Comment Starters

This page contains “comment starters” to help you think about how to prepare your statement to respond to USCIS' proposed fee rule. After reviewing this page, click the Take Action button for the next steps.

If you need some additional information about the USCIS Genealogy Program and tips to craft your comment, you can watch a recorded RecordsNotRevenue presentation covering the topic, hosted by JewishGen. Watch Save Access to 20th Century Immigration Records - You Can Help! via YouTube.

The most effective comments are custom-written, and provide unique commentary and perspective. Records Not Revenue presents the following categories and “Comment Starters” in order to help people craft their statements. Please do not copy and paste the text without customizing it. Cut and paste comments are discounted by the agency.

In general, we suggest writing about issues you have experienced obtaining records via the USCIS Genealogy Program, and address the themes of access, transparency and efficiency. Be specific! Consider some of the following open-ended questions:

  • Did you experience issues related to access, transparency, or efficiency?
  • Did USCIS fail to locate the records you requested?
  • Did you need to seek Congressional assistance to obtain the records?
  • Did you need to seek Congressional assistance to receive a refund if USCIS failed to provide the records you requested?
  • Will the hike in fees impact your ability to access records?
  • Will the proposed change to document delivery provide a real solution?

Below are additional issues and questions regarding the USCIS Genealogy Program to consider when drafting your comments. Please do not copy and paste the text without customizing it.

Access

  • The proposed USCIS Genealogy Program’s high fees disproportionately burden professional genealogical and historical researcher communities. In your comments, address how this is a burden.
  • The proposed change to deliver “previously digitized documents” will only provide access to AR-2 Forms and some C-files. A significant portion of the records that are part of the USCIS Genealogy Program are only on paper.
  • Does USCIS have a real plan to improve the service delivery for the historical records? What is the plan to reduce the years-long backlog to process requests?

Transparency

  • Why does USCIS not provide any information about the Records Management for the historical records?
  • Why is there no public reporting on the USCIS Genealogy Program? What percentage of requests are denied as “no record found” – and how many of those records are later ”discovered”? On a yearly basis, how many records provided to customers were from digital images, and how many from paper? How many refunds are issued each year?
  • How many staff work exclusively for the Genealogy Program, and how thoroughly are they trained?

Efficiency

  • The Genealogy Program was established as an alternative to FOIA. Why do most records released through the Genealogy Program still undergo FOIA/PA processing and contain many redactions? Why are most letters from the Genealogy Program signed by FOIA staff?
  • Is processing old historical records really the best use of government time and resources for any agency besides the National Archives?
  • Historic records should not be a revenue source: USCIS appears to attempt to make money off records that should legally be in NARA custody.
  • Transferring USCIS records to NARA does not pose any privacy risks, as NARA is also bound by privacy rules relating to events less than 75 years old.
  • USCIS signed a records schedule to transfer the MiDAS System and Master Index (Soundex) to NARA, beginning in 2007. The transfer of a copy of the MiDAS system would have provided the pathway for all subsequent historic records transfers, because MiDAS provides NARA a way to locate and provide the records to researchers. Why has USCIS not done this?