Antonio Mercatante passenger arrival records

Question

Passenger arrival records for Antonio Mercatante born in Castellammare, Sicily 1880s

A1 Reference Branch · Answer

Merc62 
 Thank you for posting your question on History Hub! 
 The National Archives has immigration records for arrivals to the United States from foreign ports between approximately 1820 and December 1982 (with gaps). The records are arranged by port or airport of arrival. Please contact the National Archives facility which holds records for the state in which your relative arrived/was naturalized for more information on the available records - https://www.archives.gov/research/court-records . You will need to work directly with staff in that office in order to obtain a copy of the requested record. 
 Passenger arrival and departure records dated post 1957 were filmed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the original paper records were not retained. The accessioned microfilm reels now in the custody of the National Archives are the record copies of the original paper records which no longer exist. Unfortunately, due to the fragile nature of the original camera negative film, access to the microfilm is limited until it can be transferred to a more suitable format. The National Archives is in the process of transferring the microfilm to a digital format, and all digitized copies will eventually be available online. 
 Arrival records are restricted due to personally identifiable information for 75 years, and must be requested through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) ( https://www.archives.gov/foia ) request during the restricted period. 
 Please note: All requests for passenger arrival records dated post 1957 must include the full name of the passenger; exact day/month/year of arrival; port or airport of arrival; vessel or airline name; and for airport arrivals, the flight number. 
 Records older than 75 years are publicly available, and many have been digitized by National Archives partners. For information about these resources, please consult our webpage https://www.archives.gov/digitization/digitized-by-partners . Please note that researchers can access these online resources free of charge from any NARA facility. 
 We hope this assists you with your research! 
 Sincerely, Archives 1 Reference Branch (RR1R) RR1R-24-12546-RH