Botts, a former reporter with Reuters News Agency, said she would use the $25,000 grant to investigate "the rapid militarization of immigration enforcement" during President Trump’s second term. "I am honored to carry on David Burnham’s legacy," she said.

TRAC’s co-founder Sue Long said Botts’ proposal “stood out for its depth, relevance and commitment to transparency and accountability—values that David Burnham championed throughout his life and career.” Botts’ work is expected to make a meaningful contribution to public understanding and policy discourse on the issues surrounding current federal policies on immigration.

Botts said she has been inspired by Burnham’s “lifelong commitment to exposing wrongdoing, injustice and abuses of power. It’s a mission I share.” In her previous positions, Botts used novel data analysis in a Pulitzer-winning investigative series that explored qualified immunity, a legal shield for police accused of using excessive force. With innovative data analysis she uncovered deforesters profiting from carbon credit projects in the Amazon; the way rich nations reap billions from the climate finance system; and the rise of fentanyl trafficking, among other groundbreaking stories. Her reporting has chronicled perilous journeys of migrants crossing Latin America and diverse consequences of economic inequality in California.

David Burnham died in October 2024 after a distinguished career as a New York Times investigative reporter—on police corruption in New York City, and in Washington on government agency performance in regulating nuclear power, taxation, firearms, criminal justice, and immigration, among other issues. Awarded multiple prizes for his reporting, he also authored books including The Rise of the Computer State and Power, Politics and the IRS. He co-founded TRAC with Long in 1989.