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Identification and Documentation Records
ID Records
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Chronology

The Identification and Employment Bureau was established in 1930 by executive order of the government of Puerto Rico to administer an Identification and Documentation Program. The main function of the program was to produce English language identification cards for Puerto Rican migrants to prove their United States citizenship.

Migrants would fill out an Application for Certificate of Identification (the main document in this collection) and provide supporting documentation to prove their Puerto Rican ancestry, and thus their United States citizenship. Applying for this card was voluntary.

         
THE ID RECORDS
COLLECTION

The materials consist of Identification and Documentation Records ranging from 1930 to 1959, from the beginning of the Great Depression to the end of World War II. These records were generated by the New York branch of the Bureau of Industry and Commerce (1930-1948) and the Migration Division (1948-1959) of the government of Puerto Rico and form an integral part of the larger collection known as the Records of the Offices of the Government of Puerto Rico Historical Archives of the Puerto Rican Migration to in the United States.

The program
ended in 1993.

The application includes:
  • the applicant's name
  • birth information
  • parent's birth information
  • current U.S. residence & permanent address
  • method of citizenship
  • emergency contact name and address
  • signature of applicant
  • physical description of applicant
  • fingerprint
  • affidavit of identifying witness
  • signature of the Chief of Identification Service
  • application number
  • photograph of applicant
 

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