The long and bitter battle over Ellis Island is entering its final round as lawyers from the states of New York and New Jersey go to the Supreme Court to lay claim to the landmark.

"We're not at war with New York, but we do have a strong disagreement," said New Jersey Attorney General Peter Verniero.

"This case is not unlike two neighbours arguing over a boundary, the difference being the neighbours are sovereign states and the dispute's been over 160 years in the making."

Millions of immigrants entered US through Ellis Island during early years of the century

The US Government has weighed in on New Jersey's side. But some historians and conservationists argue that the island - where 12 million immigrants first set foot in America between 1892 and 1954 - lies within New York's boundaries.

Dennis Vacco, New York's Attorney-General, describes New Jersey's court battle as an attempt to rewrite tradition and custom.

"There are millions of Americans who can trace their ancestral roots through Ellis Island," said Mr Vacco.

"Those folks who came here knew two things as they sailed into New York Harbour: They knew they were in America, and they knew they were landing in New York."

Reclaimed land in dispute

Everyone agrees the original part of the island - three acres rising above the high-water mark - is in New York. In dispute is the rest of the 25.5-acre island created through years of landfilling parts of the harbour.

Last spring Paul Verkuil, a former Columbia University law professor appointed as a special master in the case, recommended awarding most of the island to New Jersey. The island's museum and major monuments would remain in New York.

However, both sides are urging the court to reject many of Mr Verkuil's recommendations. According to a BBC correspondent, a decision may not be reached for several months.

Issue largely symbolic

New Jersey still wants the court to recognize New York's jurisdiction as extending only to the original high-water mark. But that would leave the island's main historic building, which houses the museum, split between the two states.

New York maintains that history, tradition and the law entitle it to sovereignty, citing an 1834 legal agreement awarding Ellis Island to New York "with no limitation on the size of the island".

The matter is largely symbolic, although some tax revenue is at issue. The island is federal land and will remain under control of the US National Park Service.

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