U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Improvements Needed to Workforce and Expansion Plans for Unit of Native American Law Enforcement Personnel
Fast Facts
Since 1974, the Shadow Wolves—a highly trained Native American tracking unit—have used traditional and modern methods to combat smuggling from Mexico to the Tohono O'odham Nation reservation in Arizona. They're part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In 2015, ICE shifted their focus from finding smugglers and contraband to conducting investigations. But ICE didn't update the program's mission or staffing needs.
ICE has since issued a recruitment and expansion strategy for the program but it doesn't include goals or timelines—which could help ensure the strategy is effective going forward.
Our recommendations address this and more.
Legacy Shadow Wolves Uniform and Patch
Highlights
What GAO Found
Within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Shadow Wolves program operates on the Tohono O'odham Nation reservation in Sells, Arizona. Shadow Wolves members are required to have at least one-quarter American Indian ancestry. The program's operating environment has changed in recent years due to advances in technology, an increase in federal law enforcement presence along the southwest border, and changes in smuggling tactics. As a result, in 2015, ICE shifted the program's focus from interdiction—using traditional Indigenous tracking methods and technology to seize narcotics—to investigation, such as gathering evidence and serving warrants. However, the agency did not define the program's mission, goals, or staffing needs after shifting its operations. Doing so would better position ICE to ensure that Shadow Wolves operations are having the desired impacts. Further, once ICE defines the mission and goals, determining the program's staffing needs would better position ICE to develop recruitment efforts that help accomplish those goals.
In October 2022, ICE issued a strategy for recruiting additional Shadow Wolves, retaining existing Shadow Wolves, and expanding the program to other tribal lands. ICE's strategy includes high-level recruitment methods, such as partnering with colleges and recruiting tribal law enforcement officers, but does not include goals, timelines, and milestones. Adding these elements would enable ICE to assess the effectiveness of the agency's recruitment plans. Moreover, since the program has not hired any new employees since 2007 and most Shadow Wolves are eligible to retire, developing a succession plan would better position ICE to ensure experienced Shadow Wolves will be available to train new recruits.
Timeline of Current Shadow Wolves' Retirement by Fiscal Year
Note: Generally, federal law enforcement personnel must retire at age 57, or when they complete 20 years of certain specialized federal service after age 57.
ICE has outlined steps that it plans to take to evaluate possible Shadow Wolves expansion locations, including coordinating with tribal leaders, engaging with ICE field officials, and conducting site visits to assess the feasibility and appropriateness of expansion. However, ICE has not developed criteria for evaluating and selecting locations. Doing so would help ensure officials evaluate locations consistently and transparently.
Why GAO Did This Study
About 62 miles of the U.S. southwest border is located on the Tohono O'odham Nation reservation, which may be vulnerable to illicit cross-border activity. The Shadow Wolves program began operations in 1974 to address the illegal smuggling of controlled substances from Mexico to the Tohono O'odham Nation reservation in Arizona. The program contributed to hundreds of arrests and the seizure of tens of thousands of pounds of drugs between 2010 and 2020, according to ICE.
The Shadow Wolves Enhancement Act, which became law in April 2022, includes a provision for GAO to assess the effectiveness of ICE's strategy for the Shadow Wolves program. This report assesses ICE's (1) efforts to define the program's mission and staffing needs, (2) strategies for recruiting and retaining Shadow Wolves, and (3) planning efforts to expand the program to other tribal lands. GAO analyzed ICE human capital documents and policies and Shadow Wolves program planning documents. GAO also surveyed the eight current Shadow Wolves and visited the Tohono O'odham Nation reservation to interview ICE officials, Shadow Wolves, and tribal officials.
Recommendations
GAO is making six recommendations, including that ICE define the Shadow Wolves program's mission, goals, and staffing needs; update its recruitment strategy to include goals and milestones; develop a succession plan to address upcoming retirements; and develop criteria for evaluating expansion locations. ICE concurred with the recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 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) |
ICE concurred with this recommendation. In July 2024, ICE provided us documentation of the agency's efforts to define the mission of the Shadow Wolves program. The documents also identified goals related to Shadow Wolves staffing. These efforts are a positive step forward and partially address our recommendation. However, the goals ICE provided did not align with the program's mission or describe the operational results it hopes to achieve. Further, ICE had not sought the Tohono O'odham Nation's input on the Shadow Wolves program's mission and goals. We will continue to monitor ICE's efforts to gather input from the Tohono O'odham Nation on the Shadow Wolves program's mission and mission-related goals.
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| 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) |
ICE concurred with this recommendation. In July 2024, ICE provided us documents that described a staffing goal of hiring four additional Shadow Wolves. In addition, in the documents ICE identified the necessary skills for Shadow Wolves program staff. ICE's efforts partially address this recommendation. However, ICE has not performed a workforce analysis to determine the program's staffing needs, including the number and type of personnel the Shadow Wolves unit on the Tohono O'odham Nation reservation needs to meet operational demands. We continue to believe that, once ICE defines the program's goals, determining the program's staffing needs will better position ICE to develop recruitment plans that will help them accomplish program goals. We will continue to monitor ICE's efforts to determine the Shadow Wolves program's staffing needs.
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| 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) |
ICE concurred with this recommendation. In July 2024, ICE provided us documentation that identified a timeline and a goal for hiring the first new Shadow Wolves members since 2007. Specifically, ICE developed plans to post a job opportunity announcement to hire additional Shadow Wolves as special agents at the GS-9 level. However, ICE did not identify any associated milestones for the announcement, such as screening a specific number of applicants by a specific date. Additionally, ICE had not posted an announcement as of October 2024. We maintain that ICE should develop and document measurable goals, timelines, and milestones for recruitment so officials can review progress, assess the effectiveness of the recruitment strategy, and adjust the strategy if the agency is not meeting defined metrics. We will continue to monitor ICE's efforts to update the Shadow Wolves Enhancement Act strategy to include measurable goals, timelines, and milestones for recruiting Shadow Wolves.
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| 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) |
ICE concurred with this recommendation. In July 2024, ICE provided us documents that ICE's Office of Human Capital created for each Shadow Wolves employee. These documents included individualized estimates of how reclassifying to special agent would affect the employee's pay and retirement compensation, as well as information about the extent to which ICE would require polygraph examinations, medical and physical fitness testing, and training in order to reclassify. ICE also provided documentation demonstrating that its Office of Human Capital had scheduled individual meetings with each Shadow Wolves employee to discuss this information. These efforts address the intent of our recommendation. As a result, Shadow Wolves employees are better positioned to make an informed decision about whether reclassification is appropriate for them.
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| 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) |
ICE concurred with this recommendation. In July 2024, ICE provided us documentation that identified a plan for expediting hiring of new Shadow Wolves members at the GS-9 level to address pending retirements. However, ICE did not develop a succession plan that accounts for future mandatory retirements. We maintain that developing a succession plan would better position ICE to ensure experienced Shadow Wolves will be available to train new recruits. We will continue to monitor ICE's efforts to develop a succession plan to address upcoming retirements from the Shadow Wolves program.
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| United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement | The Director of ICE should develop criteria for evaluating and selecting Shadow Wolves expansion locations. (Recommendation 6) |
ICE concurred with this recommendation. In July 2024, ICE broadly defined elements of the criteria that would enable it to evaluate new locations for expanding the Shadow Wolves program to other tribal lands. These included the willingness of partnering Tribal Nations, the level of criminal activity in the possible locations, and the availability of funding and HSI field office resources. However, as of August, ICE had not detailed how it will apply these elements to its decisions about whether expanding to each potential location is feasible and appropriate. We maintain that developing criteria for evaluating and selecting expansion locations could help ensure ICE evaluates locations consistently while improving transparency of the evaluation process. We will continue to monitor ICE's efforts to develop criteria for evaluating and selecting Shadow Wolves expansion locations.
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