Immigration Data Resources
During our March 2026 Foundations of Justice series, visiting speaker Dr. Austin Kocher challenged us to rethink how we understand immigration enforcement: not just through headlines or rhetoric, but through data.
One year into the second Trump administration, immigration enforcement has not simply expanded — it has fundamentally changed. This transformation is visible in the numbers, if you know where (and how) to look.
Dr. Kocher’s analysis focused on five key areas: arrests, detention, deportations, immigration courts, and the broader impacts on U.S. citizens. Together, these reveal a system that is not only larger, but qualitatively different in its logic, geography, and institutional structure.
While official narratives attempt to frame these changes in narrow terms, the data tells a more complex, and often more troubling, story.
Why Immigration Data Matters
We are living in a moment with more access to immigration data than ever before.
Much of this information comes from administrative data, records collected by government agencies like DHS as part of their routine operations. Unlike some other forms of public data, administrative data is harder to manipulate and offers a detailed, ground-level view of how policies are actually implemented.
Advocates and researchers are expanding this access even further through public records requests, litigation, and by building new datasets that highlight populations and issues often left out of official reporting.
From Data to Action
Data alone doesn’t create change, but it makes change possible.
As Dr. Kocher emphasized, data and technology together allow us to:
Shape public narratives with evidence-based storytelling
Support legal challenges by documenting patterns of harm
Strengthen organizing efforts with real-time, local insights
In a landscape where policy shifts happen rapidly, research and advocacy must move just as quickly.
Explore the Data Yourself
One of the most powerful takeaways from Dr. Kocher’s teachings was accessibility. These tools are not just for researchers, they are available to advocates, organizers, and community members.
Resources:
Enforcement Dashboard (Deportation Data Project data on arrests, detainers, and removals)
Detention Reports (facility-level reports on ICE detention)
Andrew Thrasher’s Substack
ICE Warehouse Tracker by Project Salt Box
Dr. Austin Kocher's Substack
St. Louis Rapid Response Coalition and it's members
Session Slides
You can explore the full set of slides from Dr. Kocher’s presentations below for a deeper dive into the data, tools, and trends shaping immigration enforcement today.
As enforcement evolves, so must our understanding. Grounding our work in data helps ensure that advocacy is not only urgent, but informed, strategic, and effective.
