Austin Kocher, a professor at Syracuse University and a senior researcher with Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), which tracks migration apprehensions and immigration court cases, did his doctoral dissertation in 2017 on NTAs and how the documents are used. He told Border Report they are necessary for asylum applications in many cases.

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“They are not given immigration lawyers by the government and there are significant barriers to finding good, reliable immigration attorneys on their own, and that will be a significant challenge and add to the challenges they face,” Kocher said. “Let’s say an individual shows up in Boston to file an asylum claim with this new paperwork. Well, what’s their next step? That’s going to be quite interesting to see.”