I made a few requests to them this year for historic BIA decisions and related materials. I actually got my records so I can't complain a ton. Happy to talk if nobody else has more experience!
So close.
I think some get burned and coke get fulfilled. Apparently they only started submitting the requests to the records center electronically in like 2022. They had been using paper forms until then…
New York, August 25th Mr. Budofsky With regard to our telephone conversation of last night, it occurs to me that you are probably still unaware of what prompted me to express the hope that I might soon have the pleasure of attending your funeral. Ignorance such as yours was not built in a day and I should not have expected it to be demolished in a night. Therefore, in the hope that others might be spared the hurt and rage which you so witlessly inflicted upon me, my brother, and others, I will tell you precisely "what you did wrong." 1. During the family's important and very personal consultation with Rabbi Simon, you brusquely intruded yourself into this room of sorrow solely to instruct the Rabbi to be sure to "given mention" to the Chvonicker Aid Society when he spoke his eulogy. In short, you used the moments during which my mother was addressed to God as a vehicle for advertising your grubby little "Aid" society. 2. Again, at graveside, when Rabbi Simon stumbled over the pronunciation of "Chvonicker", you were there loud and clear to prompt him in behalf of your commercial. To you, the most important presence at the funeral was the Chronicker Society. To me, and to those others who cared for her, it was my mother. It is only to a man of enormous insensitivity that this should have to be pointed out. Had I not been so astonished by your first intrusion, I would have countermanded your instructions to Rabbi Simon on the spot. But the past few days had been trying ones, and my mental reflexes were not what they ought to have been. In retrospect, Mr. Budofsky, I have no more genuine personal interest in your funeral do care enough, however, about the that this letter will reform your Society. than you had in my mother's. I grief of strangers, to trust future ardors in behalf of your Sincerely, George Emmitt
Most unhinged letter I've seen yet in my archival research😭 in YIVO's collection about the landsmanshaft mentioned in the letter. Undated.
Well after SIX years, the State Department finally responded to my FOIA request. Now only about 300 more of mine to go.
From my uncle Ruggiero's INS files: he was arrested in 1937 for playing craps. Queue me bursting into show tunes...
Some recognizable alien registrations courtesy of the National Archives
And look at crazy Eddie up to no good!
More celebrity A-Files: Van Halen's Father was convicted of drunk bicycling in 1960!
I know nothing about coding so that’s one part of the website that I had nothing to do with… but I’m sure Brooke at @reclaimtherecords.org will be interested
The first ever cake boss?
This is beautiful.
I scanned some of my cousins' photos over the weekend. My relative was the owner of a bowling alley and there were some photos from the groundbreaking ceremony in 1957. I found another angle of the exact some moment in the local newspaper.
USCIS released its FOIA and PA Case Processing Guide dated 29 August 2024 to @alecferretti.bsky.social in only a few months. It looks like it's grown by 53 pages in 2.5 years, based on the 2022 version IRAP (refugeerights.org) got. Document here: tinyurl.com/USCISFOIAPA-...
Come see Alec rant about the government for $5.
This is a much better deal than if you were to hire me privately to rant about the government.
I have used this meme in the past for RTR matters, so I'm glad to see if get a new life
Me: this is obviously the correct and proper ruling.
Also me: This sucks.
I keep them very brief, unless I have a specific reason this should be complex. I basically say "he has a card, look at the card" or "he's in BIRLS look at BIRLS" and enclose an image of the card/ BIRLS entry. I often have to write very complex FOIA appeals. These are not one of those times.
This was the actual text: I am writing to appeal the denial of Neil Armstrong's XC File. I provided his VAMI card with the original request, which clearly shows his XC Number to be 17752206. The VBA even noted this number on the response letter. Please have the VBA conduct a proper search. Thank you
and we didn't even need a lawsuit!
Its roughly: “you nitwits didn’t actually search”
The handout from the talk has the instructions on how to submit a FOIA request to them (there's a form). If he's in BIRLS, you shouldn't need the card from the VAMI but because they're so incompetent, it's useful to get it so you can provide the XC Number. For that, you can email NARA St Louis
The XC Files are eligible to transfer to NARA 60 years after the date the VA retires the file. In reality, the only files that have moved are files that were closed in 1955 or earlier, and even then it's sporadic. All the rest (the vast majority) require a FOIA request to the VA.
Well if DORIS calls themselves that who I am to argue?
Yes, absolutely. John Glenn appears in BIRLS which almost always means there is an XC File, and I have and submitted Neil Armstrong's VAMI card with the request, which provides his XC File Number. About 50% of searches come back not found on the first pass and need to be appealed.
It's really likely that you don't find records when you don't look.
Maybe their files are still on the moon
“Knock knock”
“Who’s there?”
(b6)
