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High Country News
April 29, 2019

Watchdogs hit a wall in accessing once-available immigration data
By Jessica Kutz


Since its creation in 1989, journalists, members of Congress, government agencies and researchers have seen Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) as a vital tool for watchdogging the federal government. The website compiles government data, received through systematic Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, and provides it free to the public and the press. But in early April, the organization hit a wall: Its requests for information about asylum and immigration cases weren’t getting through. High Country News spoke to TRAC’s co-founder, Susan Long. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.


Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, Syracuse University
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