Immigrant Ancestors and WWII Alien Registrations

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It never occurred to me that my immigrant ancestors who did not naturalize after they came to the United States would be considered aliens. But an Ancestry hint for my great-grandmother Catherine Cassidy Baker tipped me off to this fact and a new Ancestry collection as well.

The Alien Registration Act of 1940 required any non-citizen entering and living within the U.S. to register within four months at a local post office.¹ The process included completing a questionnaire consisting of 15 questions and to be fingerprinted.

This requirement allowed the U.S. government to know the whereabouts and activities of the resident aliens, including where they worked, what sorts of clubs or organizations they belonged to, etc., in an effort to stem any anti-American activities. It was also intended to protect individuals from suspicion or harassment from others who might have learned of their status as a non-citizen. In a statement upon signing the legislation, President Roosevelt said the Act was, "...for the protection of the country but also for the protection of the loyal aliens who are its guests."²

By the time WWII began, several of my immigrant ancestors had been in the country for 30-40+ years, living, working, going to church, and raising their children who were citizens by birth. It is hard to wrap my mind around the thought that they might have been suspected of any anti-American activities. But everything changes during wartime, doesn't it?

Going through my tree, I identified five family members who had to register as aliens: 

• Edward J. Baker, a paternal great-grandfather. He immigrated from Canada in 1910 and began the naturalization process, but never completed it.
• Catherine Cassidy Baker, a paternal great-grandmother and Edward's wife, who immigrated from Canada in 1910. Under the laws at the time of her immigration, she would have become a citizen under Edward's naturalization had he completed it.
• Charles Edward Baker, Edward and Catherine's son, who would have become a citizen as a child, had Edward completed his naturalization. Charles never began his own naturalization process as an adult either.
• John Simonik, a maternal great-grandfather. He immigrated from Slovakia about 1902. He never applied to become a citizen.
• Anna Tatar Simonik, a maternal great-grandmother and John's wife, who also immigrated to the U.S. in 1902. She would have become a citizen by virtue of John's naturalization, but neither he nor Anna started the process. 

The Ancestry collection titled "U.S., WWII Alien Registration, 1940-1955" contains over 8 million registrations filed between 1940 and 1952. Each item is an abstract of the entire registration, which is housed at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). 

 

Screen grab of search results for my great-grandmother Catherine Cassidy Baker.

I was able to find entries in the Ancestry database for my five ancestors, which includes the person's name, gender, birth date or year, birth place, place of registration, the registration document ID number, and the person's Alien Registration Number. 

I plan to order my ancestor's forms, as they could provide interesting or important genealogical information to help fill in some missing info or these individuals. For example, the registration file should include an individual's arrival information, such as which port they arrived at and the method by which they arrived (train, ship, etc.). I do not have this information for Catherine and Charles Baker, as they did not arrive with Edward in 1910 as far as I can tell.

The two-page registration forms may be ordered from NARA for a fee of $20 per file/$17 for 2 or more files. Orders can be placed by email and delivered as either PDFs or mailed to the requestor. 

Once I receive the forms, I'll be sure to provide an update here. 

 

Resources

Here are some resources which helped me understand the registration process and what the files might contain, as well as how to order these records from NARA.

• Video "Finding and Using Alien Registration Forms for 20th Century Immigrants," presented by Ryan James Johnson, Allen County Public Library, YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSfzbtjB1nw&t=2139s). Includes information on how to find a person's Alien Registration number using the Flexoline System if you do not have access to Ancestry.
• Website: "Alien Registration (AR-2) Form," National Archives (https://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/alien-registration-ar-2) 
•  Article: "How to Read an Alien Registration Form," by George G. Morgan, FamilyTree Magazine (https://familytreemagazine.com/records/immigration/document-detective-alien-registration/)

Until next time...

© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2025. All rights reserved. 

 

NOTES

¹ Ryan James Johnson, Allen County Public Library, "Finding and Using Alien Registration Forms for 20th Century Immigrants," 6:00; YouTube, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSfzbtjB1nw&t=2139s : accessed 12 Aug. 2025).

² Ibid.