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DHS Does Not Have Assurance That All Migrants Can be Located Once Released into the United States (REDACTED)

September 26, 2023

Office of Inspector General

September 6, 2023 OIG-23-47

Attached for your action is our final report, DHS Does Not Have Assurance That All Migrants Can be Located Once Released into the United States – Law Enforcement Sensitive. We incorporated the formal comments provided by your office.

The report contains four recommendations aimed at improving the controls validating migrants’ post-release U.S. addresses. Your office did not concur with all four recommendations. Based on information provided in your response to the draft report, we consider all four recommendations open and unresolved. As prescribed by the Department of Homeland Security Directive 077-01, Follow-Up and Resolutions for the Office of Inspector General Report Recommendations, within 90 days of the date of this memorandum, please provide our office with a written response that includes your (1) agreement or disagreement, (2) corrective action plan, and (3) target completion date for each recommendation. Also, please include responsible parties and any other supporting documentation necessary to inform us about the current status of the recommendation. Until your response is received and evaluated, the recommendations will remain open and unresolved.

Consistent with our responsibility under the Inspector General Act, we will provide copies of our report to congressional committees with oversight and appropriation responsibility over the Department of Homeland Security. We will post a redacted version of the report on our website.

Please contact me with any questions, or your staff may contact Kristen Bernard, Acting Deputy Inspector General for Audits, at (202) 981-6000.

What We Found

The Department of Homeland Security has limited ability to track migrants’ post-release addresses accurately and effectively. U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) cannot always obtain and does not always record migrant addresses, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does not always validate migrant addresses prior to migrant release into the United States. Based on our review of 981,671 migrant records documented by USBP from March 2021 through August 2022, addresses for more than 177,000 migrant records were either missing, invalid for delivery, or not legitimate residential locations. In addition to migrants not providing U.S. release addresses, DHS faced several challenges hindering its ability to record and validate migrant addresses as required. USBP did not accurately and effectively capture valid addresses, in part due to the large number of migrants apprehended, as well as its limited coordination with ICE and its limited authority to administer compliance with address requirements. ICE also did not have adequate resources to validate and analyze migrants’ post-release addresses.

ICE must be able to locate migrants to enforce immigration laws, including to arrest or remove individuals who are considered potential threats to national security. The notable percentage of missing, invalid for delivery, or duplicate addresses on file means DHS may not be able to locate migrants following their release into the United States. As the Department continues to apprehend and release tens of thousands of migrants each month, valid post-release addresses are essential.