We know that children have been separated from their families at the border, but with the Center for Public Integrity’s ongoing crowdsource, you can help uncover more specifics about the practice.

Earlier this month, the American Civil Liberties Union and others took the matter to federal court seeking class-action status on behalf of those that have ended up within the American immigration enforcement machine. The lawsuit against members of the Trump administration is seeking millions in restitution for victims of U.S policies against detained immigrants. Some of those stories are detailed in the filing, and they are not uncommon among those who have ended up in our current.

In August, the Center for Public Integrity shared with MuckRock a spreadsheet summarizing reports of children separated from their families. Hundreds of such complaints had been received by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in 2018, the year the Trump administration enacted policies prioritizing and expanding law enforcement action around illegal immigration. But though they are able to collect these complaints, that office isn’t able to do much in the way of corrective action.

The materials, however, provide insight into the experience and are a useful dataset.

In their current condition, though, the provided records are difficult to read, both for humans and automated methods, which is why we need as many eyes as possible to help confirm the details.

We’ve had hundreds of submissions to our Assignment from individuals who want to help make that dataset accessible and known. And we’re hoping to get a few more from you to complete our Assignment goal and check the accuracy of the existing submissions.

You can contribute by making an entry in the Assignment below or join CPI and the Roosie Report this Wednesday, October 23 in Queens, New York for a hackathon focused on finishing up the effort.

“Fort Hancock, Texas” by Ken Lund licensed under CC BY 2.0