Dear William (and Daniel, Catherine, Michael & Baby Girl Y) (and your parents), (and any future descendants and their parents),

Did you ever hear of the Freedom of Information Act?

The Freedom of Information Act (also known as “FOIA”) is a federal law that allows for the disclosure of information and documents controlled by the United States Government — however, the Act explicitly applies only to executive branch government agencies. The Act defines agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure procedures and provides for some exemptions to the statute. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 4, 1966, and went into effect in 1967.

In late 1986, I sent a FOIA request for a copy of my file to the United States Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service. This is what I received in response to my request [you can click on any one to see it large; you can also move right and left to see the next or previous page]:

Hey, William — do you think that any federal agency has a file on you? If you suspect that some federal executive branch government agency does, you may want to send them a FOIA request for a copy of your file — it may be interesting to find out what information is being kept on you by the federal government.

Love,

Dziadziuś Paweł.

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