Texas, El Paso Alien Arrivals - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Texas

What is in the Collection?
The collection "Texas, El Paso Alien Arrivals, 1909-1924" contains arrivals at El Paso Texas from 1909-1924, it corresponds with NARA Publication A3412. The collection is arranged by date then by manifest or serial number.

The collection "Texas, El Paso Alien Arrivals, 1924-1952" consists of a card index of individuals arriving in El Paso. It corresponds to NARA publication A3396:Index to Manifests of Permanent and Statistical Alien Arrivals at El Paso, Texas, July 1924-July 1952. The index is arranged by surname then by the first letter of the given name. Both collections are part of Record Group 85 Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

What Can these Records Tell Me?
The records generally include the following information:


 * Name
 * Birth place
 * Age
 * Gender
 * Marital status
 * Physical description
 * Occupation
 * Nationality
 * Race
 * Can they read and write
 * Last permanent residence
 * Destination
 * Name and address of nearest relative
 * Port and date of entry

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The full name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate date of immigration.

If you do not know this information, check the census records after 1900. Compare the information on the image to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several images before you find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page then select the appropriate "NARA Roll Number - Contents".

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the information to find other records such as emigrations, port records, ship’s manifests, birth, christening, census, and land records.
 * Learn foreign and “Americanized” names
 * Use the information to find additional family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Texas, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Texas Archives and Libraries.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

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