While many people think of the National Archives and Records Administration (National Archives or NARA) as being located only in Washington, D.C., NARA maintains regional archives across the country. These facilities preserve federal records connected to the communities, government agencies, and subject areas within their regions.
As a genealogist who frequently works with clients whose families include recent generations of immigrants, I often use records created by the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Of particular importance are Alien Files (A-Files), which may include photographs, visas, applications, affidavits, correspondence, vital records (including birth, marriage, and death records), and other documents created by or submitted to the INS.
Publicly available A-Files are housed at only two NARA locations: Kansas City and the National Archives at San Francisco, which is physically located in San Bruno. I primarily use the San Bruno location in person and submit requests for files held in Kansas City.
Recently, the genealogy and historical research communities learned that NARA plans to close the San Bruno archive, with the transfer of records potentially beginning as early as August 2026. This facility holds far more than A-Files. Its collections include immigration records, federal court and naturalization records, records relating to Indigenous communities, Alcatraz records, and much more.
The closure will affect not only genealogists, but also students, historians, community researchers, journalists, attorneys, tribal researchers, and families seeking information about their own histories. I have given several presentations about these collections, walking participants through how to locate and access their ancestors’ files at the archive – sometimes with exciting and deeply meaningful results.
Digitization is not an adequate substitute for a regional archive. While digitization remains an important goal, most of these records have not been digitized. Some records, even if digitized, cannot be placed online because of privacy, legal, cultural, or preservation concerns. Researchers may also need to examine an entire file or compare several related records before they can understand what the documents mean.
There is also a cost to requesting records remotely. When visiting the archive in person, a researcher can examine a file before deciding what is relevant and photograph the records using personal equipment. When ordering remotely, the researcher generally must pay for the file before seeing what it contains. This is especially difficult when several people have similar names or when the researcher is uncertain whether the file belongs to the correct person or family.
Access is not preserved simply because records are moved somewhere else. If the San Bruno collections are stored or transferred across the country, researchers will lose local access and the ability to examine related files during the same research visit. There has also been little transparency about where the collections will be housed, whether they will remain together, or how researchers will access them in the short and long term.
NARA also intends to move federal records from its Seattle facility. The loss of regional access on the West Coast raises broader concerns about whether the public will continue to have meaningful access to federal records documenting these communities.
Archives are more than buildings where records are stored. They provide access to the evidence people use to document families, communities, citizenship, government actions, and histories that may not be preserved anywhere else.
What Can You Do?
Save OUR National Archives (SONA) is organizing opposition to the closure and sharing information about how the public can respond. Visit SaveOurNationalArchives.org for current information, talking points, and advocacy resources. You can also follow SONA on Facebook for updates.
Write to the Acting Archivist of the United States and express your opposition to the closure:
Edward Forst
Acting Archivist of the United States
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
ArchivistOfTheUnitedStates@nara.gov
Send copies of your letter to your members of Congress. You may also send a copy to U.S. Representative Ro Khanna, who serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The committee has oversight responsibilities relating to the General Services Administration, the federal agency that owns the San Bruno building.
Email a copy of your letter to SONA at SaveOurNationalArchives@gmail.com so the organization can track advocacy efforts.
Share this call to action with family, friends, professional organizations, and community members. Additional information and suggested talking points are available on the SONA “Take Action” page.
The National Archives belongs to the public. Decisions about where these records are kept and how they can be accessed should include the communities whose histories they document.
For immigrant families and communities, these records may contain some of the only surviving evidence of a person’s journey, family relationships, and interactions with the United States government. Many of us already face significant barriers when researching more recent immigrant ancestors, and the closure of the National Archives at San Francisco will add another.
Meaningful access to these documents is essential to preserving our families’ stories. Please take a moment to make your voice heard.