On December 30, 2019 ART submitted comments in opposition of the proposed changes to the fees for accessing the historic public records of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). The changes outlined in the agency’s proposed rule under Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Docket No. USCIS-2019-0010 sought to significantly increase the fee for the agency to search the Master Index of the Genealogy Program from $65 to $240 (increase of 269%) and increase the fee to get reproductions of records from $65 to $385 (increase of 492%). ART opposes these exorbitant fees increases, just two among many fees increases proposed by the USCIS, and also urges the USCIS to transfer its historic records to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), where the records would be managed more efficiently, accessed more freely, and reproduced more economically. ART_statement_USCIS_fees_increase_20191230.docx