diff --git a/backend/census_historical_migration/test_excel_creation.py b/backend/census_historical_migration/test_excel_creation.py
index 8249660733..8ceae113e9 100644
--- a/backend/census_historical_migration/test_excel_creation.py
+++ b/backend/census_historical_migration/test_excel_creation.py
@@ -222,3 +222,13 @@ def test_sorting(self):
         self.assertEqual(
             [record.seq_number for record in sorted_records], ["1", "2", "10"]
         )
+
+    def test_sorting_with_empty_field(self):
+        """Test sorting with empty sort field."""
+        records = [
+            self.MockRecord(other="1", seq_number=""),
+            self.MockRecord(other="10", seq_number=""),
+            self.MockRecord(other="2", seq_number=""),
+        ]
+        sorted_records = sort_by_field(records, "seq_number")
+        self.assertEqual([record.other for record in sorted_records], ["1", "10", "2"])
diff --git a/backend/census_historical_migration/throwaway_scripts/reprocess_migration_cli_commands.py b/backend/census_historical_migration/throwaway_scripts/reprocess_migration_cli_commands.py
index bc01f858c1..f6e1ae1aac 100644
--- a/backend/census_historical_migration/throwaway_scripts/reprocess_migration_cli_commands.py
+++ b/backend/census_historical_migration/throwaway_scripts/reprocess_migration_cli_commands.py
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@
 
 # This script is a one-off to reprocess mdata migration for a failed
 # migration attempt associated with a specific error tag.
-# Command is `python generate_cli_commands.py year total_records pages_per_instance instances error_tag`
-# `python generate_cli_commands.py 2022 42000 5 80 invalid_email_error`
+# Command is `python reprocess_migration_cli_commands.py year total_records pages_per_instance instances error_tag`
+# `python reprocess_migration_cli_commands.py 2022 42000 5 80 invalid_email_error`
 
 parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
     description="Trigger data migration Github Actions through gh API calls"
diff --git a/backend/census_historical_migration/throwaway_scripts/start_process_cli_commands.py b/backend/census_historical_migration/throwaway_scripts/start_process_cli_commands.py
index c1adfb8a74..7b8052a26e 100644
--- a/backend/census_historical_migration/throwaway_scripts/start_process_cli_commands.py
+++ b/backend/census_historical_migration/throwaway_scripts/start_process_cli_commands.py
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import argparse
 import subprocess  # nosec
+import time
 
-from util import trigger_migration_workflow  # nosec
+from util import trigger_migration_workflow
 
 # This throwaway script spits out code that can be
 # copy-pasted into a bash script, or directly into the command line.
@@ -21,30 +22,32 @@
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     cmds = trigger_migration_workflow(args)
-    for cmd in cmds:
+    for ndx, cmd in enumerate(cmds):
+        print(f"# Instance {ndx + 1}")
         cmd = " ".join(cmd)
         print(cmd)
         subprocess.run(cmd)  # nosec
+        time.sleep(15)
 
 
 # Examples
 
 # With round numbers, it comes out nice and tidy.
-# python generate_cli_commands.py 2022 42000 5 80
+# python start_process_cli_commands.py 2022 42000 5 80
 # Each instance must run 525 records.
 # With 5 pages per instance, the page size is 105.
 # There are 400 pages in total.
 # This means we will attempt 42000 records.
 
 # Off-by-one, and we make sure we don't drop that extra.
-# python generate_cli_commands.py 2022 42001 5 80
+# python start_process_cli_commands.py 2022 42001 5 80
 # Each instance must run 526 records.
 # With 5 pages per instance, the page size is 106.
 # There are 397 pages in total.
 # This means we will attempt 42082 records.
 
 # More pages, and we get closer to the exact number.
-# python generate_cli_commands.py 2022 42001 10 80
+# python start_process_cli_commands.py 2022 42001 10 80
 # Each instance must run 526 records.
 # With 10 pages per instance, the page size is 53.
 # There are 793 pages in total.
diff --git a/backend/census_historical_migration/throwaway_scripts/util.py b/backend/census_historical_migration/throwaway_scripts/util.py
index a011e6190c..7dce59ffed 100644
--- a/backend/census_historical_migration/throwaway_scripts/util.py
+++ b/backend/census_historical_migration/throwaway_scripts/util.py
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ def trigger_migration_workflow(
     cmds = []
     for ndx, page_set in enumerate(page_chunks):
         # gh workflow run historic-data-migrator-with-pagination.yml -f environment=preview -f year=2022 -f page_size=1 -f pages=1
-        print(f"# Instance {ndx + 1}")
         cmds.append(
             [
                 "gh",
diff --git a/backend/census_historical_migration/workbooklib/excel_creation_utils.py b/backend/census_historical_migration/workbooklib/excel_creation_utils.py
index 18e647d86c..4be7615e5f 100644
--- a/backend/census_historical_migration/workbooklib/excel_creation_utils.py
+++ b/backend/census_historical_migration/workbooklib/excel_creation_utils.py
@@ -203,4 +203,4 @@ def sort_by_field(records, sort_field):
     """
     Sorts records by a specified field. The values of the field are converted to integers before sorting.
     """
-    return sorted(records, key=lambda record: int(getattr(record, sort_field)))
+    return sorted(records, key=lambda record: int(getattr(record, sort_field) or 0))