UC Berkeley Library Resources
The UC Berkeley Library curates research guides on several topics. These guides are an excellent resource for browsing and researching a particular subject. They include topical summaries, database recommendations, recommended readings with descriptions, and resources for background information. See also the “Primary Sources” tabs on these pages.
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) curates similar guides as well. See “Archives and Finding Aids” below.
Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF)
The AIISF preserves the rich stories of Pacific Coast immigrants and shares them through educational initiatives and public programs.
The AIISF website contains excellent historical summaries about Angel Island.
Use this page as a starting point for conducting Pacific immigrant family research.
This page provides recommended books, information on poems and inscriptions at Angel Island, photos, and films.
See also Immigrant Voices under Archives and Finding Aids, below.
Archives and Finding Aids
This project surveys the collections of East Coast Asian / Pacific / American community-based organizations and individuals in the New York metropolitan area.
The Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA)’s collections contain over 17,000 films and videos. Please note in-person viewings must be scheduled at least two weeks in advance. To search the collection, search the UC Berkeley Library website and limit your search to BAMPFA. See also BAMPFA’s digitized films at CineFiles.
The Bracero History Archive holds oral histories and artifacts pertaining to the Bracero program, a guest worker initiative that spanned the years 1942-1964.
Calisphere is great for searching California archives for historical images. See also curated images by topic at their exhibitions page, including Japanese-American Internment, Hispanic-American Barrios, Migrant Workers and Braceros, and Chinese Exclusion Act.
DENSHO offers digitized archival resources, including oral histories, documents, and images, on Japanese American incarceration during WWII.
This resource provides Chinese Exclusion Act Documents in chronological order.
This is a digital archive of personal stories of immigration on Angel Island curated by AIISF.
Ideal for keyword searching finding aids from repositories all over California.
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) holds extensive records relating to immigrants from the late 1700s through the early 2000s. Use this page as a starting point.
NARA also offers many extensive research guides. For example: Chinese-Americans, Japanese-Americans.
The UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center retains archives on the histories of Chicana/o and Latina/o communities. Holdings cover topics on mass incarceration, the National Chicano Moratorium, and much more.
See also “Primary Sources” tabs in the UC Berkeley Library research guides provided at the top of this page.
Current Detention Data and Statistics
TRACImmigration
Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) offers a data hub with various reports on immigration-related detention, asylum, and court.
Use this page as a starting point for learning about current immigration detention statistics.
Global Detention Project
The Global Detention Project provides international statistics and country-specific reports on immigration detention.
This page is the immigration detention profile for the United States and Central America.
The GDP’s interactive mapping project is a visual representation of the global expansion of detention.
This 2021 report on Mexican detention may be relevant to anyone interested in the recent Title 42 program forcing many asylum seekers to remain in Mexico.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the government organization responsible for enforcing immigration law.
ICE produces annual reports relating to detention.
Freedom For Immigrants
Freedom for Immigrants is an advocacy organization addressing immigrant detention in the United States. They collect and provide detention statistics for research and advocacy purposes.
Use this link to learn more about immigration detention statistics, such as length of detention, who gets detained, and reports of abuse.
This detention mapping project shows the locations of detention centers, ICE field offices, detainee health-related information like COVID-19 reporting and deaths, and much more.