Detroit, Michigan, U.S., Border Crossings and Passenger and Crew Lists, 1905-1963

This database is an index to card manifests of aliens crossing from Canada and entering the U.S. through the port of Detroit, Michigan from 1905 to 1954. It also includes passenger and alien crew lists of vessels arriving at the port of Detroit, Michigan, from 1946 to 1963. In addition, the names found in the index are linked to actual images of the passenger lists, copied from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm M1478 and M1479.

A variety of Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) forms may have been used to record information about the passengers, crew members, or aliens. Different forms could be used depending on whether the individual was a passenger on a plane, passenger on a vessel, crew member, citizen, alien, etc. Forms may have simply changed over time as well. Due to the variety of forms, the amount of information available for an individual in this database will vary according to the form used and the questions asked on it. The type of information that is generally contained in this database though, includes:

• Name


• Age


• Birth date


• Birthplace


• Gender


• Ethnicity/nationality


• Last residence


• Vessel or airline name


• Port of departure


• Port of arrival


• Date of arrival

Additional information about an individual may be recorded on the original document and may be obtained by viewing the corresponding image.

The card manifests are arranged alphabetically by surname and the passenger and crew lists are arranged chronologically by arrival date.

To learn about researching in passenger records consult John P. Colletta’s book, They Came In Ships (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1993).