TRAC's Immigration Project is a unique new multi-year effort to systematically go after very detailed information from the government, check it for accuracy and completeness and then make it available in an understandable way to the American people, Congress, immigration groups and others.

The project has been supported by the JEHT Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund and Syracuse University.

The most visible aspect of the project is this site, which is very much a work in progress. It now includes:

1. Separate clearly written reports on important immigration matters — administrative enforcement, criminal enforcement, staffing, etc.
2. A special TRAC-developed tool that provides one-click access to the very latest monthly data on the criminal enforcement of the immigration laws, along with a clear explanatory text.
3. Detailed reports on the handling of asylum matters by over 200 immigration judges.
4. An extensive library of reports on immigration matters by the GAO, CRS and inspectors general.
5. A plain English glossary of frequently used words and acronyms common to the immigration world.

Currently available on TRAC's Immigration site are reports focusing on Border Patrol apprehensions along the border, Border Patrol staffing, criminal enforcement in the federal district courts and government inspections activities at the designated ports of entry. Additional reports and studies are under development on a range of subjects such as the granting of immigration benefits — green cards, naturalization, affirmative asylum, etc — and the workings of the immigration courts. These reports and the latest data obtained from the government will be posted to our new site as the information is obtained from the various agencies, checked for accuracy and completeness and analyzed.

Finally, our goal is to make the immigration project a cooperative effort. TRAC therefore wishes to extend an invitation to all members of the immigration community, scholars, media and the general public to contact us with your comments and suggestions about topics needing better coverage, possible data sources, etc.