Press Releases

This weekend, Congressman Salud Carbajal was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor by the Ellis Island Honors Society (EIHS) for his service and contributions to the United States of America as a naturalized citizen.

“I am humbled to receive this prestigious award, and appreciate the EIHS for inviting me to receive it this weekend at perhaps our nation’s most famous monument to the legacy of its immigrants. When my parents brought me and my siblings to the United States when I was only five years old, we were following in the footsteps of millions who have come to this great nation over centuries in search of prosperity and the promise of a better life. And since then, I have worked to ensure that opportunity and prosperity is available for all who call this country home,” said Rep. Carbajal. “To be recognized in the company of some of our nation’s greatest figures is an honor that I will never forget.”

The 35th Annual Ellis Island Medals of Honor ceremony included Rep. Carbajal; Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA); CEO of Aeronautical Radio, Incorporated John Belcher; President of the UPS Foundation, Eduardo Martinez; Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, Professor Michelle Williams; Chairman & CEO of United Therapeutics Corporation and Founder of SiriusXM, Martine Rothblatt; Founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Amb. Nancy Brinker; Tony Award Winning Producer, Bonnie Comley; Mechanical Engineering Professor and Astronaut, Michael Massimino; Professional Golfer Juan 'Chi Chi' Rodriguez; Commander of the U.S. Army Forces Command, General Michael Garrett; and former United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson.

A complete list of this year’s honorees can be found here.

Rep. Carbajal and his wife Gina attend the 2022 Ellis Island Medal of Honor ceremony on Ellis Island. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images)

Rep. Carbajal with honorees (standing L-R) John Belcher, CEO of ARINC Inc.; Eduardo Martinez, President of the UPS Foundation; Michelle Williams (seated, right), Dean of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health; and their spouses (seated front left to center, standing at right).

 Rep. Carbajal with fellow honoree, retired professional golfer Juan Antonio “Chi Chi” Rodriguez, the first Puerto Rican inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

The Ellis Island Medal of Honor ranks among the nation's most renowned awards.

Since 1986, the honor has been awarded to eight U.S. Presidents; Nobel Prize recipient Elie Wiesel; Generals Norman Schwarzkopf and Colin Powell; Justice Sandra Day O’Connor; Secretaries of State Madeline Albright, Henry Kissinger, and Condoleezza Rice; and national figures such as Joe DiMaggio, Muhammad Ali, Frank Sinatra, Rosa Parks, Arnold Palmer, and Bob Hope.