“Immigration trackers want transparency, better data management; judges press for autonomy.”

Austin Kocher,  research assistant professor with the Transactional Research Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) in the Newhouse School, was quoted by Border Report for the story “Immigration trackers want transparency, better data management; judges press for autonomy.” Kocher, who leads research related to immigration data at TRAC, says that there were major management issues and inaccuracies when it comes to those applying for asylum. “The real problem is the American people and policymakers and American public should know and have a sense of how many people are applying for asylum relief and the outcomes of those cases. It’s really just a fundamental transparency and accountability issue and with those records missing it was presenting a very incomplete picture and potentially undermining the agency’s ability to monitor itself,” Kocher says.