Looking for Non-Partisan, Reliable, and Up-To-Date Immigration Data? TRAC Has What You Need.

If you’re looking for up-to-date non-partisan immigration data, let me introduce you to our work at Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse -or TRAC-at Syracuse University.

For the past 15 years, TRAC has been a valuable source of immigration data. TRAC’s reports and statistics are often cited in news articles, used in scholarly and legal publications, and referred to by government officials. TRAC’s data tools and applications are accessed by thousands of people each month and TRAC reports are sent to people across the US and around the world. This report provides a brief introduction to our immigration data and tools. We hope that this is helpful for those of you who are new to TRAC’s work, and benefit more experienced users as well.

Understanding How TRAC Works

TRAC’s data is obtained from federal agencies through Freedom of Information Act requests as well as directly from the federal courts. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which was passed in 1966 and later strengthened in 1974 following the Watergate scandal, is a pillar of democracy and government transparency. FOIA allows the public to request and obtain any federal agency record as long as that information does not fall under several types of…