Hundreds of thousands of people passed through the immigration stations in San Francisco
and Honolulu between 1882 and 1955. Nearly 250,000 of them are the subject of federal
reports and records , including immigration investigation case files of people who
tried to immigrate--some successfully, some not--during the period of the Chinese
Exclusion Acts, 1882-1943.
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Pacific Region, in San
Bruno, California houses these records and others. The public can view these records
at the San Bruno branch.
This website can help you find out what cases are available at the NARA archives.
If you would like to see whether information is available for a particular individual,
do a search here to get the case file number.
You won't find the actual, physical case files on this website; you will have to
travel to the NARA office in San Bruno to see the records themselves. On this website
you can find out:
- whether NARA has a case file for a particular person,
- the case file number, and
- a bit of information about that person.
For more complete information, you will need to actually examine a case file; having the case file number will make it easy for a NARA archivist to retrieve the file for you.
Search for case numbers now.
Download the Entire Database of Records (Approx. 90,000):
Part 1 (11.5 MB Excel
File) Part 2
(7.3 MB Excel File)
Learn More About the NARA Files. Find out what's in a case file and how to do a search.
Start a search. Search for case numbers now.
Make an appointment. To see the records at the NARA office, it is best to make an appointment by calling (650) 238-3501 or sending an e-mail to sanbruno.archives@nara.gov.
Volunteer to help. NARA has thousands of case files that need to be indexe so that they can be searched. If you would like to volunteer to assist with this public service project, contact the archives at (650) 238-3501 or send an e-mail to sanbruno.archives@nara.gov.
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