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Open Recommendations (41 total)

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Improvements Needed to Workforce and Expansion Plans for Unit of Native American Law Enforcement Personnel

GAO-24-106385
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5 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should update the Shadow Wolves Enhancement Act strategy to include measurable goals, timelines, and milestones for recruiting Shadow Wolves. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should define the mission and goals of the Shadow Wolves program, with input from the Tohono O'odham Nation. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should develop criteria for evaluating and selecting Shadow Wolves expansion locations. (Recommendation 6)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should, after defining the mission and goals of the Shadow Wolves program, determine the staffing needs, to include the skills and number of positions necessary, for the Shadow Wolves program on the Tohono O'odham Nation reservation. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should develop a succession plan to address upcoming retirements from the Shadow Wolves program. (Recommendation 5)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Improvements Needed to Workforce and Expansion Plans for Unit of Native American Law Enforcement Personnel

GAO-24-106385
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should provide each member of the Shadow Wolves with information required to make an informed decision about reclassifying to special agent. Such information includes individualized information about how reclassification would affect pay and retirement compensation and the steps each member of the Shadow Wolves must complete for reclassification. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Facial Recognition Services: Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Should Take Actions to Implement Training, and Policies for Civil Liberties

GAO-23-105607
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should establish and implement a process to periodically monitor whether HSI staff using facial recognition services to support criminal investigations have completed training requirements. (Recommendation 1)
Open
As of March 2024, this recommendation remains open. ICE officials said that the agency plans to periodically monitor whether HSI staff using facial recognition services to support criminal investigations have completed training requirements. In February 2024, we requested evidence that shows the periodic monitoring requirement is documented--for example, documented in a policy or guidance. If such evidence is provided, we will consider this recommendation closed and implemented.

Immigration Detention: Actions Needed to Collect Consistent Information for Segregated Housing Oversight

GAO-23-105366
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should provide specific guidance to ERO field offices on the level of detail needed in the documentation supporting segregated housing placements. (Recommendation 1)
Open
In October 2022, we reported on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) placement of detained noncitizens in segregated housing. We found that ICE documentation did not include consistent detail explaining incidents and circumstances leading to segregated housing placements. Specifically, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had not provided field offices with detailed guidance outlining what to include in this documentation. As a result, we recommended that the Director of ICE provide specific guidance to ERO field offices on the level of detail needed to document segregated housing placements. ICE concurred with this recommendation. In February 2024, ICE reported that it is taking steps to determine the level of detail required in documentation supporting segregated housing placements. This includes recently participating in several site visits to further gather requirements and inform the policy revision process. ICE estimates that any revised policy would be issued in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024. We will continue to monitor ICE's efforts to address this recommendation.

Immigration Detention: ICE Needs to Strengthen Oversight of Informed Consent for Medical Care

GAO-23-105196
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Once ICE establishes and communicates policies and requirements for all detention facilities to collect informed consent documentation for medical care from community providers, the Director of ICE should require that oversight mechanisms include a review of this documentation as part of the agency's oversight of detention facilities. (Recommendation 3)
Open – Partially Addressed
ICE concurred with this recommendation and stated that once the update to Directive 02-07, "Treatment Consent and Refusal," is complete, IHSC will incorporate the requirement to review informed consent documentation in the Quality Review Program (QRP) audit tool that will be used by IHSC during all detention facility site visits. The QRP will review this documentation as part of its oversight mechanism to ensure compliance with the updated IHSC Directive 02-07. In April 2023, ICE officials reported they continue to work on incorporating the requirement of reviewing informed consent documentation into its QRP audit tool. Once completed, ICE intends to use the QRP audit tool during all detention facility site visits by IHSC as an oversight mechanism. As we noted in our report, IHSC Directive 02-07 applies to IHSC-staffed facilities, but not non-IHSC-staffed facilities. As of March 2024, ICE provided an example of the QRP tool and stated it is being tested in both IHSC and non-IHSC-staffed facilities. However, it is unclear whether the QRP tool includes checks for all types of informed consent for off-site medical procedures, especially for invasive procedures. We will continue to monitor ICE's efforts to establish these requirements for both types of detention facilities (IHSC- and non-IHSC-staffed facilities).

Immigration Detention: ICE Needs to Strengthen Oversight of Informed Consent for Medical Care

GAO-23-105196
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should require non-IHSC-staffed detention facilities to collect informed consent documentation for medical care from community providers. (Recommendation 2)
Open – Partially Addressed
ICE concurred with this recommendation and stated the agency would: (1) review its detention standards, policies, procedures, and processes concerning informed consent for medical care from community providers for non-IHSC staffed facilities to assess the impact to its operations; and (2) identify a solution to ensure the collection of this information and provide assurance that noncitizens in ICE custody continue to receive the necessary medical care from community providers, as appropriate. In April 2023, ICE officials reported that they continue to review their detention standards, policies, procedures, and processes concerning informed consent for medical care from community providers for non-IHSC staffed facilities and will update them accordingly. In March 2024, ICE provided updated documents that it shares with community medical care providers that direct the providers to collect informed consent and provide that informed consent documentation to ICE. However, ICE did not provide documentation showing that it requires non-IHSC facilities to collect this consent documentation from community medical providers. We will continue to monitor ICE's efforts to establish these requirements.
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