California sues federal government over planned move of historic San Bruno archives

Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of improperly planning to close the National Archives at San Francisco’s San Bruno site and transfer its collections elsewhere. The filing says the decision was made without public input and would jeopardize access to nearly 200-year-old documents covering the Chinese Exclusion Act, World War II Japanese internment, Native American boarding schools, and other minority histories.

Bonta seeks a court order declaring the relocation unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act and to halt any movement of the records, which he says are largely undigitized. He argues California agencies need the files for environmental reviews and that relocation would raise costs for researchers and tribes seeking federal recognition. Representatives from California Indian Legal Services and Tsuru for Solidarity described the archives as essential to preserving cultural heritage and warned the move could erase important community narratives.