Caught In The Web: The Role Of Transnational Data-Sharing In The US Immigration System

This report summarizes the results of an investigation into the ways in which foreign data interacts with immigration enforcement programs, utilizing open records requests to obtain internal government records, as well as a survey of 34 attorneys. Section I) provides an overview of prominent U.S. transnational data-sharing programs that rely on unreliable foreign sources, and the harms they cause; Section II) examines the ways in which information obtained through foreign data prejudices immigrants seeking asylum and other forms of protection in the United States; and Section III) provides recommendations on ways to restrict the reliance on foreign data and protect the rights of individuals swept up in such programs. The report contains many stories of immigrants who were “caught in the web” of questionable foreign data sources and suffered dire consequences as a result, such as deportation to dangerous home countries.

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