Warbrides

Temporary files are destroyed by the Federal government in the US after 75 years so many were worried that the war brides immigration records would go this way unless something was done.

In June the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the National Archives and Records Administration signed a deal to preserve all 53 million files on U.S. immigrants. These will be made available to the public through a federal facility in Kansas City. 

A small group calling themselves Save Our National Archives (SONA) has been working towards this goal and are now delighted that these files, which provide valuable information on those who emigrated to the USA, will soon be available. These files are not just about war brides, they are also the files of Africans, south east Asians as well as European immigrants. Previously the only files available had been for those coming through Ellis Island in New York which is only a very small percentage of US immigrants. 

The first batch of around 135,000 is expected to be available later this year from the National Archives storage facility. Files will only be open to the immigrants and become available to others 100 years after an immigrant's birth.

Read the full AAP report here .