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Audits, Inspections, and Evaluations

Report Number Title Issue Date Fiscal Year
OIG-24-23 Results of an Unannounced Inspection of ICE's Golden State Annex in McFarland, California 2024
OIG-24-21 Results of an Unannounced Inspection of ICE's Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami, Florida 2024
OIG-24-16 ICE Major Surgeries Were Not Always Properly Reviewed and Approved for Medical Necessity 2024
OIG-24-15 Review of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Fiscal Year 2023 Drug Control Budget Formulation Compliance Report 2024
OIG-24-12 Review of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Fiscal Year 2023 Detailed Accounting Report for Drug Control Funds 2024
OIG-24-11 Summary of Selected DHS Components that Did Not Consistently Restrict Access to Systems and Information 2024
OIG-24-10 Summary of Previously Issued Recommendations and Other Insights to Improve Operational Conditions at the Southwest Border 2024
OIG-24-03 Limited-Scope Unannounced Inspection of Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield, California* 2024
OIG-24-02 Management Alert - ICE Management and Oversight of Mobile Applications - (REDACTED) 2024
OIG-23-61 CBP, ICE, and Secret Service Did Not Adhere to Privacy Policies or Develop Sufficient Policies Before Procuring and Using Commercial Telemetry Data - (REDACTED) 2023
OIG-23-59 ICE Should Improve Controls Over Its Transportation Services Contracts 2023
OIG-23-52 ICE Did Not Accurately Measure and Report Its Progress in Disrupting or Dismantling Transnational Criminal Organizations 2023
OIG-23-51 Results of an Unannounced Inspection of ICE's Caroline Detention Facility in Bowling Green, Virginia 2023
OIG-23-41 ICE Has Limited Ability to Identify and Combat Trade-Based Money Laundering Schemes 2023
OIG-23-38 Results of an Unannounced Inspection of ICE's Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia 2023
OIG-23-33 ICE Should Improve Controls to Restrict Unauthorized Access to Its Systems and Information 2023
OIG-23-26 Results of an Unannounced Inspection of Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington* 2023
OIG-23-24 Intensifying Conditions at the Southwest Border Are Negatively Impacting CBP and ICE Employees' Health and Morale 2023
OIG-23-18 Violations of ICE Detention Standards at Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana 2023
OIG-23-17 Secret Service and ICE Did Not Always Adhere to Statute and Policies Governing Use of Cell-Site Simulators - Law Enforcement Sensitive (REDACTED) 2023
OIG-23-13 Violations of Detention Standards at ICE’s Port Isabel Service Processing Center 2023
OIG-23-12 ICE and CBP Deaths in Custody during FY 2021 2023
OIG-22-75 Violations of ICE Detention Standards at Torrance County Detention Facility 2022
OIG-22-70 ICE and CBP Should Improve Visa Security Program Screening and Vetting Operations 2022
OIG-22-47 Violations of ICE Detention Standards at Folkston Processing Center and Folkston Annex 2022
OIG-22-44 ICE Did Not Follow Policies, Guidance, or Recommendations to Ensure Migrants Were Tested for COVID-19 before Transport on Domestic Commercial Flights 2022
OIG-22-40 Violations of ICE Detention Standards at South Texas ICE Processing Center 2022
OIG-22-37 ICE Spent Funds on Unused Beds, Missed Detention Standards while Housing Migrant Families in Hotels 2022
OIG-22-31 Management Alert - Immediate Removal of All Detainees from the Torrance County Detention Facility 2022
OIG-22-21 Review of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Fiscal Year 2021 Drug Control Budget Formulation Compliance Report 2022
OIG-22-18 Review of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Fiscal Year 2021 Detailed Accounting Report for Drug Control Funds 2022
OIG-22-14 Medical Processes and Communication Protocols Need Improvement at Irwin County Detention Center 2022
OIG-22-03 Many Factors Hinder ICE's Ability to Maintain Adequate Medical Staffing at Detention Facilities 2022
OIG-22-02 DHS could not provide any performance measures and provided only limited data to demonstrate the full extent or effectiveness of its efforts to enforce wildlife trafficking laws.  In addition, CBP personnel inconsistently recorded data on wildlife encounters, and ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents did not always completely or accurately record actions and data related to wildlife trafficking.  CBP personnel also did not always demonstrate that they involved ICE HSI special agents when suspecting wildlife trafficking crimes.  Finally, DHS did not establish performance goals to measure the results of its efforts to combat wildlife trafficking.  We attributed these issues to DHS, CBP, and ICE not providing adequate oversight, including clear and comprehensive policies and procedures, of wildlife trafficking efforts.  As a result, DHS may be missing opportunities to curtail the spread of zoonotic viruses and disrupt transnational criminal organizations that use the same networks for other illicit trafficking, such as narcotics, humans, and weapons.  We made one recommendation to improve the Department’s efforts to combat wildlife trafficking.  The Department concurred with the recommendation and provided a plan to improve its efforts.

>DHS Needs to Better Demonstrate Its Efforts to Combat Illegal Wildlife Trafficking 		2022
OIG-22-01 ICE Needs to Improve Its Oversight of Segregation Use in Detention Facilities 2022
OIG-21-61 During our unannounced inspection of Otay Mesa in San Diego, California, we identified violations of ICE detention standards that compromised the health, safety, and rights of detainees.  Otay Mesa complied with standards for classification and generally provided sufficient medical care to detainees.  In addressing COVID-19, Otay Mesa did not consistently enforce precautions including use of facial coverings and social distancing.   Overall, we found that Otay Mesa did not meet standards for grievances, segregation, or staff-detainee communications.  Specifically, Otay Mesa did not respond timely to detainee grievances and did not forward staff misconduct grievances to ICE as required.  In addition, Otay Mesa was not consistently providing required services for detainees in segregation including access to recreation, legal calls, laundry, linen exchange, mail, legal materials, commissary, and law library.  Further, ICE did not consistently respond to detainee requests timely and did not specify times for visits with detainees.  Finally, we determined the declining detainee population at Otay Mesa caused ICE to pay more than $22 million for unused bed space under a guaranteed minimum contract.  We made seven recommendations to ICE’s Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations to ensure the San Diego ERO Field Office overseeing Otay Mesa addresses identified issues and ensures facility compliance with relevant detention standards.  ICE concurred with six recommendations and non-concurred with one recommendation.

>Violations of ICE Detention Standards at Otay Mesa Detention Center 		2021
OIG-21-58 ICE has taken various actions to prevent the pandemic’s spread among detainees and staff at their detention facilities. At the nine facilities we remotely inspected, these measures included maintaining adequate supplies of PPE such as face masks, enhanced cleaning, and proper screening for new detainees and staff. However, we found other areas in which detention facilities struggled to properly manage the health and safety of detainees. For example, we observed instances where staff and detainees did not consistently wear face masks or socially distance. In addition, we noted that some facilities did not consistently manage medical sick calls and did not regularly communicate with detainees regarding their COVID-19 test results. Although we found that ICE was able to decrease the detainee population to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, information on detainee transfers was limited. We also found that testing of both detainees and staff was insufficient, and that ICE headquarters did not generally provide effective oversight of their detention facilities during the pandemic. Overall, ICE must resolve these issues to ensure it can meet the challenges of not only the COVID-19 pandemic, but future pandemics as well. We made six recommendations to improve ICE’s management of COVID-19 in its detention facilities. ICE concurred with all six recommendations.

>ICE’s Management of COVID-19 in Its Detention Facilities Provides Lessons Learned for Future Pandemic Responses 		2021
OIG-21-57  Although ICE had controls in place that required Capgemini Government Solutions, LLC to provide qualified labor, ICE did not properly construct or monitor the contract.  This occurred because ICE awarded a firm-fixed-price contract but required a labor-hour performance measurement to monitor and track work hours, which was not appropriate for this type of contract.  The contractor also did not provide the number of staff ICE required for specific labor categories.  As a result, ICE cannot ensure it received all services, and it overpaid $769,869 in labor costs.  Finally, ICE did not ensure the contractor met statement of work requirements for staff skill sets, education, and work experience, nor did it ensure all contractor staff worked at the designated place of performance

>ICE's Oversight of the Capgemini Contract Needs Improvement 		2021
OIG-21-46 During our unannounced inspection of Adams in Natchez, Mississippi, we identified violations of ICE detention standards that threatened the health, safety, and rights of detainees.  Although Adams generally provided sufficient medical care, we identified one case in which the medical unit examined a sick detainee but did not send the detainee to the hospital for urgent medical treatment, and the detainee died.  We also found the medical unit did not document outcomes of detainee sick calls or ensure proper review and follow-up of detainee test results.  In addressing COVID-19, Adams took some measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but detainees did not consistently follow some guidelines, including use of facial coverings and social distancing, which may have contributed to repeated COVID-19 transmissions.  Adams did not meet standards for classification, grievances, segregation, or staff-detainee communications.  Specifically, we discovered a low custody detainee comingled with higher custody detainees, and found the facility did not always identify detainees with special vulnerabilities or those requiring translation services.  Adams also did not respond timely to detainee grievances and was not consistently providing required care for detainees in segregation including access to recreation, legal calls, laundry, linen exchange, mail, legal materials, commissary, law library, and to ICE forms and drop-boxes for detainees to make requests.  In addition, ICE did not consistently respond to detainee requests timely.  Finally, we determined the declining detainee population at Adams resulted in ICE paying more than $17 million for unused bed space under a guaranteed minimum contract.  We made seven recommendations to ICE’s Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) to ensure the New Orleans ERO Field Office overseeing Adams addresses identified issues and ensures facility compliance with relevant detention standards.  ICE concurred with all seven recommendations.

>Violations of ICE Detention Standards at Adams County Correctional Center 		2021
OIG-21-40 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not adequately identify and track human trafficking crimes.  Specifically, ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) did not accurately track dissemination and receipt of human trafficking tips, did not consistently take follow-up actions on tips, and did not maintain accurate data on human trafficking. These issues occurred because HSI did not have a cohesive approach for carrying out its responsibilities to combat human trafficking. We made one recommendation to improve ICE’s coordination and human trafficking efforts to assist victims. ICE concurred with our recommendation.

>ICE Faces Challenges in Its Efforts to Assist Human Trafficking Victims 		2021
OIG-21-36 We determined that before July 12, 2018, migrant parents did not consistently have the opportunity to reunify with their children before removal.  Although DHS and ICE have claimed that parents removed without their children chose to leave them behind, there was no policy or standard process requiring ICE officers to ascertain, document, or honor parents’ decisions regarding their children.  As a result, from the time the Government began increasing criminal prosecutions in July 2017, ICE removed at least 348 separated parents without documenting whether those parents wanted to leave their children in the United States.  In fact, ICE removed some parents without their children despite having evidence the parents wanted to bring their children back to their home country.  In addition, we found that some ICE records purportedly documenting migrant parents’ decisions to leave their children in the United States were significantly flawed.  We made two recommendation that will ensure ICE documents separated migrant parents’ decisions regarding their minor children upon removal from the United States, and develops a process to share information with Government officials to contact parents for whom ICE lacks documentation on reunification preferences.  ICE concurred with our recommendations.

>ICE Did Not Consistently Provide Separated Migrant Parents the Opportunity to Bring Their Children upon Removal 		2021
OIG-21-32 During our unannounced inspection of Pulaski County Jail, we identified violations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention standards that threatened the health, safety, and rights of detainees.  In addressing COVID-19, Pulaski did not consistently enforce precautions including use of facial coverings and social distancing, which may have contributed to repeated COVID-19 transmissions at the facility.  Pulaski did not meet standards for classification, medical care, segregation, or detainee communication.  We found that the facility was not providing a color-coded visual identification system based on the criminal history of detainees, causing inadvertent comingling of a detainee with significant criminal history with detainees who had no criminal history.  The facility generally provided sufficient medical care, but did not provide emergency dental services and the medical unit did not have procedures in place for chronic care follow-up.  We also found that the facility was not consistently providing required oversight for detainees in segregation by conducting routine wellness checks.  Finally, we found deficiencies in staff communication practices with detainees.  Specifically, ICE did not specify times for staff to visit detainees and could not provide documentation that it completed facility visits with detainees during the pandemic.  We did find that Pulaski generally complied with the ICE detention standard for grievances.  We made five recommendations to ICE’s Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) to ensure the Chicago ERO Field Office overseeing Pulaski addresses identified issues and ensures facility compliance with relevant detention standards.  ICE concurred with all five recommendations. 

>Violations of ICE Detention Standards at Pulaski County Jail 		2021
OIG-21-31 Under 40 U.S.C. § 1315, DHS had the legal authority to designate and deploy DHS law enforcement officers from CBP, ICE and United States Secret Service to help the Federal Protective Service protect Federal facilities in Portland, Oregon.  However, DHS was unprepared to effectively execute cross-component activities to protect Federal facilities when component law enforcement officers first deployed on June 4, 2020.  Specifically, not all officers completed required training; had the necessary equipment; or used consistent uniforms, devices, and operational tactics when responding to the events in Portland.  This occurred because DHS did not have a comprehensive strategy that addressed the potential for limited state and local law enforcement assistance, and cross-designation policies, processes, equipment, and training requirements.  We made two recommendations to improve DHS’ preparedness for protecting Federal property.  DHS concurred with both recommendations.

>DHS Had Authority to Deploy Federal Law Enforcement Officers to Protect Federal Facilities in Portland, Oregon, but Should Ensure Better Planning and Execution in Future Cross-Component Activities 		2021
OIG-21-30 Violations of Detention Standards Amidst COVID-19 Outbreak at La Palma Correctional Center in Eloy, AZ 2021
OIG-21-29 DHS' Fragmented Approach to Immigration Enforcement and Poor Planning Resulted in Extended Migrant Detention during the 2019 Surge 2021
OIG-21-15 ICE Guidance Needs Improvement to Deter Illegal Employment,” OIG-21-15.  We determined the Worksite Enforcement (WSE) program compliance, civil enforcement, and outreach activities are not as effective as they could be to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) immigration enforcement strategy.  ICE officials did not consistently enforce ICE guidance, take timely and affirmative steps against unauthorized alien workers, and ensure the outreach program achieved measurable progress and was cost effective.  We made four recommendations with which ICE officials concurred.  Based on the information ICE provided, we consider the four recommendations resolved and open.

>ICE Guidance Needs Improvement to Deter Illegal Employment 		2021
OIG-21-12 ICE Needs to Address Prolonged Administrative Segregation and Other Violations at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility 2021
OIG-21-09 DHS Components Have Not Fully Complied with the Department's Guidelines for Implementing the Lautenberg Amendment 2021
OIG-21-05 Management Alert - FPS Did Not Properly Designate DHS Employees Deployed to Protect Federal Properties under 40 U.S.C. § 1315(b)(1) 2021
OIG-21-03 We found violations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention standards undermining the protection of detainees’ rights and the provision of a safe and healthy environment.  Although the Howard County Detention Center (HCDC) generally complied with ICE detention standards regarding communication, it did not meet the standards for detainee searches, food service, and record requirements for segregation and medical grievances.  We determined HCDC excessively strip searched ICE detainees when leaving their housing unit to attend activities within the facility, in violation of ICE detention standards and the facility’s own search policy.  In addition, HCDC failed to provide detainees with two hot meals per day, as required.  For those in segregation, HCDC did not document that detainees received three meals per day and daily medical visits.  Further, HCDC did not properly document the handling of detainee medical grievances.  We made two recommendations to ICE’s Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) to ensure the Baltimore ERO Field Office overseeing HCDC addresses identified issues and ensures facility compliance with relevant detention standards.  ICE concurred with both recommendations and is implementing a corrective action plan to address the concerns we identified.

>ICE Needs to Address Concerns About Detainee Care and Treatment at the Howard County Detention Center 		2021

*NDAA, Pub. L. 117-263, section 5274 Response Received. View responses

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