Help With Questions

To Michael Gonsalez:
Thanks for the information you provided to Joseph below. I had to laugh at the part where you say "those of us who are still in the early 1900s researching our great grand parents and their brothers and sisters". It made me feel so old. I am trying to find an immigration record for my father. He came from Zacatecas in 1913 through the border crossing at El Paso TX. I would so much like to see a record of his crossing, but NARA has been no help. The NARA office across the Sound in Seattle said they do not have the films for border crossings at El Paso for that period of time. They said that their office in Berkeley, CA or someplace had them. Since my sister was living in San Jose at the time, she went there and looked but was not able to complete her search and now she has moved to Las Vegas. You said you lived in Ft. Worth. Might you have a NARA there that has the El Paso border crossing records for around 1913?
Thanks,
Emilie Garcia
Port Orchard, WA ----.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2005 11:56 PM
Subject: Re: [ranchos] Help With Questions

great. Thanks Michael. I'll have a look and see if I can gleam a few questions to ask from this material. Yes I knew about the name change but didn't have it handy when I wrote. thanks again.

joseph

ps: if you're inclined can you make a folder in the "links" area of the Group called USCIS (formerly INS) and put the links in this email in it with a very brief description? then it will be available for later as well thanks

Michael Gonzales wrote:
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Joseph,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If you want to see if INS records contain 
information on where an individual comes from you might be interested in the 
following sites.  As you might know, INS is no longer.  The new 
Agency is the US Citizenship and Immigrations Services.  However, the 
border crossing records are still available through NARA.  I 
have also attached some Word documents on the specific records 
that are available and what you can expect to find in them.  There are 
NARA regional sites.  I have one here in Ft. Worth but I believe there 
are six total outside of Washington D.C.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hope this info addresses what you were 
requesting below and is of assistance for those of us who are still in the 
early 1900s researching our great grand parents and their brothers and 
sisters.  The links below contain lots of information and you may find 
that it won't be neceessary to interview anyone, at least for 
now.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR><A rel="nofollow" title=<a href="http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/history/index.htm" target="_blank">http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/history/index.htm</a> 
href="http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/history/index.htm"><a href="http://uscisgov/graphics/aboutus/history/index.htm" target="_blank">http://uscisgov/graphics/aboutus/history/index.htm</a></A><BR><BR><BR><A rel="nofollow" 
title=<a href="http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/history/articles/MBTEXT.htm" target="_blank">http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/history/articles/MBTEXT.htm</a> 
href="http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/history/articles/MBTEXT.htm"><a href="http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/history/articles/MBTEXT.htm" target="_blank">http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/history/articles/MBTEXT.htm</a></A><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Michael</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE 
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(0,0,0) 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
  <DIV 
  style="FONT: 10pt arial; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none">----- 
  Original Message ----- </DIV>
  <DIV 
  style="BACKGROUND: rgb(228,228,228) 0% 50%; FONT: 10pt arial; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none; moz-background-clip: initial; moz-background-inline-policy: initial; moz-background-origin: initial"><B>From:</B> 
  <A rel="nofollow" title=mailto:makas@... href="mailto:makas@...">Joseph 
  Puentes</A> </DIV>
  <DIV 
  style="FONT: 10pt arial; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none"><B>To:</B> 
  <A rel="nofollow" title=mailto:ranchos@yahoogroups.com 
  href="mailto:ranchos@yahoogroups.com">LosRanchos</A> </DIV>
  <DIV 
  style="FONT: 10pt arial; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none"><B>Sent:</B> 
  Sunday, October 09, 2005 8:03 AM</DIV>
  <DIV 
  style="FONT: 10pt arial; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none"><B>Subject:</B> 
  [ranchos] Help With Questions</DIV>
  <DIV><BR></DIV><TT><BR>okay some have problems with finding out the 
  "Where" in Mexico they came <BR>from. I want to eventually get interviews 
  with people in INS and Social <BR>Security and other gov't offices to see 
  what information is freely open <BR>to the public that might give clues on 
  where in Mexico people came from.<BR><BR>Can you all email me directly 
  with your thoughts on what questions can <BR>be asked of people high up in 
  these organizations. I'd like to go <BR>prepared and can only think of 
  these questions:<BR><BR>1) With regards to the freedom of information act 
  what info is available <BR>to the general public in (their 
  organization).<BR><BR>2) On the records that are available what kind of 
  information is usually <BR>collected?<BR><BR>3) What time periods did 
  these records cover?<BR><BR>4) What preliminary work can the information 
  seeker perform to <BR>facilitate the look up of records?<BR><BR>5) Are 
  there specific forms that need to be used for information 
  request?<BR><BR>6) Are there costs involved with requesting records? And 
  if so what are <BR>they?<BR><BR>7) Is the informatin regarding your 
  organization kept at one central <BR>location or might one need to contact 
  various geographical locations of <BR>your organization to find their 
  specific record needs?<BR><BR>8) Can you supply the address of locations 
  on the internet where<BR>     a) the address of each 
  specific information center<BR>      b) where 
  information requesting forms can be 
  downloaded<BR>       c)  general 
  contact information can be found<BR><BR>Help me with this please. I know 
  I'm forgetting some important questions <BR>that I might only have a one 
  time opportunity to ask. What would you <BR>like to know about some 
  relative from some gov't organization that I <BR>have not listed 
  above?<BR><BR>thanks,<BR><BR>joseph<BR><BR><BR></TT></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>