Austin Kocher, a researcher with Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, said he was concerned in particular about the quality of the data and information that the U.S. federal government keeps, which could cause asylum seekers to fall through the cracks.

He pointed to issues with the family separation policy at the border, where the lack of proper data kept hundreds of parents from being reunited with their children. Over the course of his work at TRAC, Kocher said he has found all kinds of sloppiness with data management.

“One of the just really widespread issues is the government just does not care right now about the quality of its own data, of its own record keeping,” Kocher said. adding that it was a disservice to the public’s right now what their government is doing.

“We don’t know because so many of their record-keeping practices are either secretive, or they’re sloppy. Or they’re both, they’re secretive and they’re sloppy,” he added.