TRAC is offline. Is it gone for good?
TRAC–the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse–is offline. The immigration wonks of social media are, rightly, losing their collective mind.
In sad news, TRAC, the immigration court data portal which has been a vital resource for years, appears to be completely down following its departure from Syracuse University. It’s unclear when (or if) it will come back.
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social) January 8, 2025 at 6:59 PM
I have relied on TRAC for years. I’ve been known to respond to Q&A in and out of the classroom by pulling up TRAC for a vital answer. I cannot imagine losing that resource.
Our co-editor Austin Kocher was, at one point, affiliated with TRAC. Back in August, he explained that TRAC was splitting off from Syracuse.
I have been in a difficult situation since the start of the year. TRAC hasn’t technically existed at Syracuse U since at least the start of the year. It was replaced (sort of) by the Civic Research Data Lab (CRDL), which is made up of the old TRAC folks. See my faculty bio.
— Austin Kocher, PhD (@ackocher) August 20, 2024
I didn’t connect that change to the possibility of TRAC going offline completely. I (incorrectly) assumed it was a typical academic reorganization issue. That assumption was clearly wrong.
TRAC, I’m sure, took a lot of work. Both legal–filing and fighting FOIA requests–and technical–running a website, accurately presenting data. I’m not sure what entity, if any, will step into the breach.
Fingers crossed that someone will take up this critical mantle.
-KitJ