Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse–Syracuse University

The Transactional Records Action Clearinghouse (TRAC) gathers, analyzes, and distributes data about the fairness and effectiveness of federal enforcement of laws and regulations. Associated with Syracuse University, its purpose is to provide the U.S. public with the information they need to hold the federal government accountable for its activities, staffing, and spending. TRAC has just added administrative immigration enforcement as a particular focus of its research. TRAC hopes to supplement the work of immigration advocates by uncovering hard data to document what is known – and, at times, is not known – about how the government enforces immigration laws. To accomplish this, TRAC has hired Washington-based immigration attorney Larry Katzman as well as a system/web delivery professional to work full time in this arena. In other areas, TRAC has been successful over the years in obtaining detailed and hard-to-find information about federal civil and criminal enforcement and getting it into the hands of public interest groups, the media, members of Congress, and the public. It will do the same in immigration. TRAC obtains data on government operations. TRAC reviews all publicly-available information such as reports and statistical tables generated by agencies, Congressional testimony, websites, news articles, and reports by Inspectors General and the GAO. TRAC then files Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to obtain internal agency data. It also goes after detailed, redacted records of the thousands or millions of individuals impacted by agency action. Importantly, TRAC also litigates against the federal government when its FOIA requests are not fully and promptly complied with. It has current or impending lawsuits, for instance, against the Department of Justice, Office of Personnel Management, and the RS. TRAC organizes and analyzes the data. TRAC staff members utilize their statistical, legal, and analytical expertise in assessing the data it obtains. Is the data complete and accurate? What has been withheld? What do the results tell us about government effectiveness, efficiency, and fairness? How does the information differ from data or messages previously provided by the agency, from public perceptions, and from the anecdotal experience of practitioners and advocates? TRAC reports on its findings. TRAC issues reports based on the data. Colorful maps, graphs, and links to thousands of pages of supporting material accompany the reports. TRAC maintains websites. The reports and summary data are then published on TRAC’s public website (http://trac.syr.edu). TRAC also maintains a subscription site that is accessed both by the media (The New York Times, USA Today, CNN, NPR, The Washington Post, and many others), law schools, public interest groups, and the government itself (e.g. the DOJ’s Inspector General, Congressional committees, the Government Accounting Office). More than a terabyte of data, or the equivalent of 500,000,000 printed pages, is indexed and easily available on TRAC’s websites. About TRAC’s Immigration Project: So often, immigration advocates create carefully-researched and well-written letters, reports, and press releases as part of their important government oversight function. But because of the dearth of comprehensive data on immigration enforcement and adjudications, these documents are often based on personal experiences with clients or judges, on observations (e.g., in detention centers) or on publicly-available government statistics that sometimes are incomplete or inaccurate. Hard statistics are invaluable for documenting problems, bolstering arguments for legal and policy changes, and supporting litigation efforts. How many indefinite detainees are not receiving timely and fair reviews of their continued detention? How many unaccompanied minors are not promptly transferred to ORR custody and how many are denied consent to pursue their special immigrant juvenile claims? How many individuals with misdemeanor convictions are deemed to be aggravated felons and ordered removed as a result? What are the historical and regional trends of the numbers? Authoritative data on these and many other matters, such as those relating to asylum, removal, gender, adjudications, and adjustments are usually maintained by the U.S. government but not made publicly available.TRAC’s goal is to perform the hard work of acquiring this type of information – exactly what immigration advocates need but do not have the resources or expertise to obtain on their own. Litigators, practitioners, policy-makers, human rights groups, academics, and the media will also benefit from the data that TRAC uncovers. TRAC will work closely with advocates in identifying specific issues that can be quantified, analyzing data that is received, and drafting reports. TRAC will make all of its reports available free-of-charge to the non-profit sector through a website. TRAC invites you to work with us in developing and implementing this important project. For more information, contact Larry Katzman, 202-518-9000, ext. 2; lkatzman@syr.edu.

JK