The U.S. government was prepared to destroy millions of files documenting every person who immigrated to this country, or tried to, over the last century.
Instead, those records will be saved and the vast majority of them will be kept in the Kansas City area, providing invaluable information to historians, genealogists and the merely curious. They’re called A-files, as in alien registration files. They are the paperwork of the wretched refuse and the huddled masses and everyone else who yearned for a better life in America.
The minutiae of every great migration wave of the 20th century are recorded in citizenship applications, photographs, personal correspondence, foreign birth certificates, marriage licenses, health records, interview transcripts and more. People might learn where their great-grandfather lived and what he did for a living in the old country. Sociologists might glean insight into who was on the move and why. Researchers might discover patterns in the way immigrants were treated over the years.
You can read more in an article by Matt Campbell in the Kansas City Star at http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/1252050.html.
Wretched refuse? Whoa there, Mr. Campbell! Those people registered to become citizens of this country. And if they were wretched, then how will you describe today's illegal aliens who sponge off legitimate taxpayers here?
If a person broke into someone’s house and refused to leave, should the owner of the house be required to provide a job, medical care, and retirement? Or, should the owner have the right to expel the person who broke in?
Perhaps greater access to immigration documentation will provide us with a desperately needed historical perspective on the builders of this nation. Hooray for Kansas City!
Happy Dae·
http://ShoeStringGenealogy.com
Posted by: Dae Powell | June 16, 2009 at 06:54 AM
Something puzzles me and I'm sure someone has the answer. The article mentions a date before which immigration records were federal. The article states we might learn interesting details about our ancestors from these federal files.
I found the record of my (3) great grandfather in a county seat in Upstate NY. The only info I saw was the document attesting to his becoming a citizen. Do Federal immigration records contain more details than when local jurisdictions maintained them? Thanks.
Posted by: GMF | June 16, 2009 at 01:23 PM
Happy Dae,
The "wretched refuse" comment was a reference to the incription of the poem "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazaruson the base of the Statue of Liberty. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Posted by: Elaine | June 16, 2009 at 03:50 PM
Elaine, you are correct. Had young Matt put the reference in quotes, it would have been clearer. Still, I dislike the "wretched refuse" usage.
Happy Dae·
Posted by: Dae Powell | June 16, 2009 at 06:27 PM
The term "wretched refuse" should bring to mind The Statue of Liberty to every American school child and adult, or the beautiful music to which the words were set. Every genealogist knows that they are here only because their ancestors came to this country for a better life. It is amazing for me to know so many of mine left everything behind to make the journey to America, would we be so brave? Doubtful. We know how badly our 'aliens' were treated, you'd think we would vow to do better in 2009.
Posted by: Madolyn Hayne | June 17, 2009 at 07:10 AM