About the History Office
USCIS History Office researches, writes, and preserves the history of the federal Immigration and Naturalization Services and encourages academic studies of the same. Agency historians welcome inquiries from scholars, students, and other researchers interested in the histories of USCIS, its predecessor the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and all aspects of federal immigration and nationality policy.
The USCIS History Office welcomes questions. You may contact us at cishistory.library@uscis.dhs.gov.
If you are interested in conducting in-depth research on the history of USCIS, INS, or any topic related to the history of federal immigration and nationality policies, please first consult our online research guide.
The USCIS History Library outside Washington, D.C. welcomes researchers by appointment only. Please email us to schedule an appointment. For more information about the library see our About the Library page.
Please note that the USCIS History Library does not maintain the records of individual immigrants. For more information on how to find those records see our online research guide.