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More immigration data is available than ever. Journalists should proceed with caution.

Poynter · Jon Greenberg · last updated

New tracking sites make it easier to follow immigration and enforcement, but journalists still need to verify what they find

Not long ago, reporters on the immigration beat had a go-to data source: TRAC. The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, based at Syracuse University, made federal immigration data accessible, searchable and reliable. If you needed to know the number of Ecuadorans who had passed through the immigration court closest to you, you could find it.

TRAC is still the workhorse it’s always been, but today, it’s got a fair bit of company.

In my Beat Academy role, I collect tools to help reporters localize national stories, and I noticed some new immigration information sites that have emerged since President Donald Trump took office.

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