Researching U.S. Immigration and Naturalization

30
Apr

Researching U.S. Immigration and Naturalization

Monday, April 29 at 7:30 PM

Toyota USA Auto Museum
19600 Van Ness Ave.
Torrance, CA 90501

One of the first things that the newly created United States of America did was to establish laws covering naturalization. These laws, however, were administered by the states with many variations. Finally, in 1906 the Federal Government took control of the entire process. The standardized documentation after 1906 has proven invaluable to genealogical researchers. Similarly, laws controlling immigration have also changed over time, generally becoming more restrictive. As immigration and naturalization documentation can be key information in tracing one’s roots, understanding how the process worked over time, understanding how the information was recorded and where it might be found is essential. This lecture will provide a short history of immigration and naturalization laws and provide general guidance in finding your ancestor’s documentation.

Hal Bookbinder

Hal Bookbinder

Hal Bookbinder has been researching for 28 years, identifying 4,000 relatives and tracing two of these lines into the mid 1700s. A former president of JGSLA and IAJGS, he created and continues to edit the annual Jewish Genealogical Yearbook. Hal has spoken at numerous conferences, synagogues and society meetings on topics from computing to geography to brick walls. He is the director of IT infrastructure and operations for the UCLA Health System, teaches business, mathematics and information technology for the University of Phoenix and directs continuing job readiness programs at two substance abuse recovery facilities in Los Angeles; the Midnight Mission and its sister organization, the Family Housing Facility.