Thread by @ReclaimTheRecs

Hi there, fellow genealogists and historians!

Did you know that archivists at @NARA_RecMgmt -- yes, the very National Archives we all know and love -- may become complicit in helping ICE destroy millions of records of rapes, solitary confinement, and deaths in ICE custody?

ICE, like all government agencies, generates tons of records. They also have a records retention schedule, saying how long they have to hold onto old records, and when they can start destroying them.

Last year, ICE submitted a request to NARA to change their retention schedule.

ICE wants to start destroying more of its "old" records, including even the records of abuse and rape and death, far sooner than most other government agencies (including the military!) do for similar record sets.

And initially, the archivists at NARA signed off on this change!

Oh, you don't believe us? Well, here it is on National Archives letterhead, written and signed off by a NARA archivist.

static1.squarespace.com/static/5722daf…

The very first item on that proposed records retention schedule change, the VERY FIRST ONE, is the shortening of records-keeping for "Detainee Sexual Abuse and Assault Files".

Number two is the detainee death records.

Number three is how much ICE charges for phone calls.

Note the language the NARA archivists chose to use as justification for approving this records destruction: "Does not document significant actions of Federal officials".

Detainee rapes and deaths are not significant actions of Federal officials, according to NARA.

Here are some news articles with far more details about NARA's choosing to allow ICE to destroy more records, and links to some primary source material:

splinternews.com/ice-seeks-perm…
AND
sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigrati…
AND
thememoryhole2.org/blog/ice-docum…

Again, ICE cannot change their records retention schedule and destroy these documents (at least not legally, for whatever that's worth) without NARA's sign-off.

But the archivists at NARA gave them that sign-off.

Fellow genealogists and historians, we have a problem here.

Luckily, this generated a little push-back amongst the archivist community. Just a little, though.

The Archivists Roundtable of Metro New York (@ArchivistsRT) released this statement on the situation last fall:
nycarchivists.org/resources/Docu…

And here's a statement from the Concerned Archivists Alliance (@Concerned_Arch):
concernedarchivists.wordpress.com/2017/08/31/iss…

And just three weeks ago, on June 3rd, the Director of the Records Management Operations Program at NARA (@NARA_RecMgmt) gave a statement to Russ Kick (@thememoryhole2) that NARA would maaaaaybe re-consider allowing this records retention schedule change:
thememoryhole2.org/blog/ice-docum…

So, here's why we're posting this big long Tweet thread, not about researching your great-grandma or some state marriage index we're FOILing:

Archives can be complicit in atrocities.

Archivists can do dumb shit.

The myth of archivst-as-information-superhero needs to die.

We, as the people who routinely use government archives -- you might even call us archival customers -- have the ability to influence archive policy. We have the ability to make our voices heard, and we need to use it.

These archivists work for us. Our taxes pay them.

Sometime very soon, @NARA_RecMgmt is going to open up a fifteen-day public comments period on the revised ICE records retention schedule. It may have more stringent rules. It may not.

But when it happens, we need to USE THAT PUBLIC COMMENTS PERIOD to actually submit comments.

We at Reclaim The Records aren't going to tell you what to say in your public comments to NARA, of course. We're just going to tell you when NARA opens up for those public comments.

We hope you'll consider reminding government archives and archivists who they really work for.

UPDATE: Hi there, Society of American Archivists! (@archivists_org) Hey, why haven't you guys issued a position statement on this situation yet? You've issued so many others, and on far less relevant matters.

Don't you think that's kinda weird?
www2.archivists.org/statements

Hopefully, this unusual silence from the SAA has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the fact that they're co-hosting a big government records conference later this summer, with not one but two government records groups, @StateArchivists and @InfoNAGARA.

Right?
archives2018.sched.com