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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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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
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 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 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.

Immigration Enforcement: ICE Can Further Enhance Its Planning and Oversight of State and Local Agreements

GAO-21-186
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should develop and implement an oversight mechanism to monitor Warrant Service Officer participants' compliance with their Memorandum of Agreement with ICE. (Recommendation 3)
Open
In January 2021, we reported on ICE's oversight and management of the 287(g) program. We found that ICE uses a number of mechanisms to oversee 287(g) Jail Enforcement Model participants' compliance with their agreements, such as conducting inspections and reviewing reported complaints; however, ICE did not have an oversight mechanism for participants' in the Warrant Service Officer (WSO) model of the program. An oversight mechanism could help ICE ensure that WSO participants comply with their 287(g) agreement and other relevant ICE policies and procedures. We recommended that ICE develop and implement an oversight mechanism to monitor WSO participants' compliance with the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with ICE. ICE agreed with this recommendation. As of June 2022, ERO had created a process for revocation, destruction, and logging of WSO credentials. As of June 2023, ERO is finalizing this process. We will continue to monitor ICE's efforts to address this recommendation.

Alternatives to Detention: ICE Needs to Better Assess Program Performance and Improve Contract Oversight

GAO-22-104529
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should ensure that its oversight activities collect the information needed to assess all performance standards in the contract. (Recommendation 6)
Open
ICE concurred with our recommendation and stated it would assess the data it currently collects to identify additional performance measures to enhance program oversight. As of December 2022, ICE stated it was continuing to assess the data collected for the ATD program to identify additional performance measures with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2023. While this is a positive step, to fully address the intent of our recommendation, ICE must collect the information needed to measure the ATD contractor's performance against all 17 standards described in the program contract. As of September 2023, ICE officials said the agency's efforts to address this recommendation are ongoing. We will continue to monitor ICE's efforts.

Immigration Enforcement: Arrests, Detentions, and Removals, and Issues Related to Selected Populations

GAO-20-36
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should implement a process to collect and maintain data in a readily available format on detained parents or legal guardians of U.S. citizen and legal permanent resident minors to ensure that information on this population is entered into ICE's data system as required by policy. (Recommendation 1)
Open
In November 2019, we reported on ICE immigration enforcement policies and actions, including those for vulnerable populations. We found that ICE did not collect or maintain readily available data on detained parents or legal guardians of U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident minors, as required by ICE policy. Without such information, ICE headquarters officials cannot ensure that ICE officers are collecting and entering this information into the system as required by policy. As a result, we recommended that ICE collect readily available data on detained parents or guardians of U.S. citizen and legal permanent resident minors. ICE DHS did not concur with this recommendation, stating that collecting such data would not better inform ICE's decision-making processes. However, as we noted in our report, ICE's 2017 Detention and Removal of Alien Parents or Legal Guardians directive stated that in pursing the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws against parents of minors, ICE personnel should remain cognizant of the impact enforcement actions may have on U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident minors. Without making these data readily available, ICE was not able to account for the overall impact of its enforcement actions on U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident minors whose parents or legal guardians have been detained. In July 2022, ICE issued its revised directive on Interests of Noncitizen Parents and Legal Guardians of Minor Children or Incapacitated Adults, which superseded its 2017 directive. Among other things, the July 2022 directive requires ICE to collect and maintain relevant data related to covered individuals that permits continuous monitoring and tracking of non-citizen parents/legal guardians of minor child(ren) or incapacitated adults in the United States, without regard to the dependent's citizenship or immigration status. The directive also requires the development of a system for maintaining this information in a manner that permits continuous monitoring and tracking of such individuals to ensure compliance with the Directive, and such information should be maintained in a format where it may be made available for reporting to the Office of the Director. In November 2022, ICE officials told us that a working group was formed to consider how to implement this directive and that the group is meeting weekly. In March 2024, ICE told us that the working group completed its requirements gathering for collecting and maintaining relevant data and they were undergoing internal review. We will continue to monitor ICE's efforts to address this recommendation.

Alternatives to Detention: ICE Needs to Better Assess Program Performance and Improve Contract Oversight

GAO-22-104529
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should ensure the results of its oversight activities are recorded in a manner that allows for analysis of the contractor's overall performance against each standard. (Recommendation 7)
Open
ICE concurred with our recommendation and stated it would assess its contract oversight activities to improve its methodology, including collecting and recording information on the root cause for errors and the corrective action taken, if applicable. As of December 2022, ICE stated it was continuing to assess its contract oversight activities to ensure the results are recorded in a manner to allow for analysis of the contractor's performance against the standards outlined in the contract. ICE estimated completing these actions by May 31, 2023. To fully meet the intent of our recommendation, once ICE finishes its assessments, it should demonstrate that it has implemented a methodology for recording the results of its oversight activities that enables analysis of the contractor's performance against each standard. As of September 2023, ICE officials said the agency's efforts to address this recommendation are ongoing. We will continue to monitor ICE's efforts.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Once ICE collects the information needed to assess all performance standards and records the results in a manner that allows for analysis, the Director of ICE should use the oversight findings to assess whether the contractor is meeting the acceptable quality levels for all performance standards and document the results. (Recommendation 8)
Open
ICE concurred with our recommendation and stated once it completes the analysis of its contract oversight activities, the agency will be able to determine and document whether the contractor is meeting the performance standards outlined in the contract. As of December 2022, ICE stated it was continuing to analyze its contract oversight activities, and planned to leverage the findings from the assessment to determine whether the contractor is meeting performance standards specified in the contract. ICE estimated completing these actions by August 31, 2023. If ICE's planned actions enable it to use its oversight findings to assess the contractor's performance against each standard and ICE documents the results, they would meet the intent of our recommendation. As of September 2023, ICE officials said the agency's efforts to address this recommendation are ongoing. We will continue to monitor ICE's efforts.

Immigration Detention: ICE Should Enhance Its Use of Facility Oversight Data and Management of Detainee Complaints

GAO-20-596
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should regularly conduct analyses of data on deficiencies identified through Office of Detention Oversight's inspections. (Recommendation 3)
Open
DHS concurred with this recommendation. In April 2023, ICE reported that Custody Management plans to start regularly analyzing Office of Detention Oversight (ODO) inspection results data once it finished implementing and incorporating the results into a new Custody Management data system. By October 2023, ICE had finished implementing an automated process through which ODO inspection results are uploaded into the new data system. ICE anticipates Custody Management can begin conducting analyses of the inspection results data around the end of calendar year 2024. To meet the intent of the recommendation, Custody Management should regularly analyze ODO inspections results data to identify trends in deficiencies over time and within and across facilities and regions.

Firearms Trafficking: U.S. Efforts to Disrupt Gun Smuggling into Mexico Would Benefit from Additional Data and Analysis

GAO-21-322
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should ensure that HSI analyzes additional information--for example, data that ATF shares about U.S.-sourced firearms recovered in Mexico--to supplement its existing analysis identifying smuggling trends and patterns. (Recommendation 4)
Open
ICE HSI is analyzing and plans to report on firearms smuggling to Mexico. As part of this, HSI's Innovation Lab is analyzing existing data sources and proprietary trace data held by ATF. As of March 2024, ICE has not provided any examples of analyses on firearms trafficking to Mexico.
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