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Open Recommendations (42 total)

Department of Homeland Security: Components Could Improve Monitoring of the Employee Misconduct Process [Reissued with revisions on Sep. 4, 2018.]

GAO-18-405
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should monitor the duration of all cases beginning-to-end by stage and by case type (Recommendation 10).
Open
In October 2018, ICE stated that beginning in fiscal year 2019, a project team will develop the capability to monitor the duration of all employee misconduct cases beginning-to-end by stage and by case type. The estimated completion date of this recommendation was June 28, 2019. In August 2020 and June 2022, the ICE Office of Human Capital provided examples of a quarterly "Aging Cases" report. While this report may help improve the timeliness of a certain stage of the process, this report does not monitor the duration of all cases beginning-to-end by stage and by case type. To close this recommendation, GAO needs evidence that ICE monitors all cases beginning-to-end by stage and by case type. As of February 2024, we are continuing to follow-up on ICE's actions to implement this recommendation.

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: Actions Needed to Improve Planning, Documentation, and Oversight of Detention Facility Contracts

GAO-21-149
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should revise its supervisory structure so that the CORs' oversight functions are independent of field office management. (Recommendation 3)
Open
ICE did not concur with this recommendation and noted in August 2021 that its Office of Acquisition Management and Office of the Principal Legal Advisor created a supervisor training that includes topics of fiscal law and procurement as well as Contracting Officer and Contracting Officer Representative (COR) roles and responsibilities. ICE noted this training was provided during a 2020 annual conference. We acknowledged in our 2021 report that ICE provided a slide-deck presentation to field office management via broadcast message. We further reported that we found this presentation insufficient for addressing the issues we identified. For example, this document did not address CORs' and some ICE headquarters officials' concerns that a COR's ability to independently and effectively carry out their oversight functions was dependent on relationships between the COR and the field office managers. Further, this document did not address the concerns we identified with CORs having sufficient support and resources to conduct their oversight functions. Last, it did not provide CORs with a safeguard for instances where they believed they should push back on ERO field office management in order to uphold the terms and conditions of a particular contract. As of February 2024, we continue to believe that a revised supervisory structure could help ensure CORs have sufficient independence to carry out their oversight duties.

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 establish performance goals with measurable targets for the ATD program that cover core program activities and participant outcomes. (Recommendation 3)
Open
ICE concurred with our recommendation and stated it would explore performance goals to measure program success and core program activities, such as how often participants are referred to services, the frequency of court tracking assignment, and the subsequent rate of court appearances. In December 2022 ICE stated it was continuing to review the ATD program to identify potential performance goals, and planned to engage with GAO to further discuss measuring ATD participant outcomes. ICE estimated a completion date of August 31, 2023. To fully meet the intent of our recommendation, in addition to establishing performance goals that cover core program activities, ICE should also establish performance goals that take into account the final outcomes of ATD participants after ICE unenrolls them and places them on other conditions of release. 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.

Department of Homeland Security: Components Could Improve Monitoring of the Employee Misconduct Process [Reissued with revisions on Sep. 4, 2018.]

GAO-18-405
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should define and document the case management system data fields and methodology to be used for monitoring all established performance targets and provide related guidance to staff (Recommendation 12).
Open
In October 2018, ICE stated that it will work to define and document the case management system data fields and methodology to be used for monitoring all established performance targets and will provide related guidance to applicable staff. The estimated completion date for this recommendation was June 28, 2019. In June 2022, ICE stated that they plan to provide documentation, but as of February 2024, ICE has not provided documentation related to this recommendation. To close this recommendation, ICE should provide evidence that it has defined and documented the case management system data fields and methodology to be used for monitoring all established performance targets and has provided related guidance to staff. As of February 2024, we are continuing to follow-up on ICE's actions to implement this recommendation.

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 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 establish performance goals and related performance measures to assess and manage the performance of the 287(g) program. (Recommendation 1)
Open
In January 2021, we reported on ICE's oversight and management of the 287(g) program. We found that ICE has not established performance goals that cover all program activities, such as ICE's oversight of its law enforcement agency (LEA) partners, or measures to assess the program's performance, such as the percentage of LEA partners in compliance with annual training requirements. As a result, ICE is not well-positioned to determine the extent to which the program is achieving intended results. We recommended that ICE should establish performance goals and related performance measures to assess and manage the performance of the 287(g) program. ICE agreed with this recommendation. In August 2021, officials stated that ICE is finalizing a (1) draft 287(g) strategic plan that will outline the program goals, objectives, and performance measures and (2) mechanism to measure progress towards achieving 287(g) program mission. In June 2023, ICE told us that the updated 287(g) strategic plan was 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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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should include information on absconsions relative to the population of both active and unenrolled participants when externally reporting absconsion information for the ATD program. (Recommendation 4)
Open
ICE concurred with our recommendation and stated it was in the process of aligning its absconsion methodology for the program to report on absconsions relative to both active and unenrolled ATD participants. ICE stated that, as of November 2022, it had finished this alignment and the agency planned to publish the revised methodology on public-facing websites by February 28, 2023. If ICE also uses its revised methodology for absconsion information it reports to Congress, when completed, these actions would satisfy 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: Opportunities Exist to Improve Cost Estimates

GAO-18-343
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should take steps to ensure that ICE's budget estimating process more fully addresses cost estimating best practices.
Open
In June 2023, we assessed ICE's budget estimating process to determine if it more fully addressed cost estimating best practices given the changes that ICE implemented to address our other four recommendations. Our assessment focused on the three characteristics of a reliable cost estimate which ICE's process did not meet or substantially meet during our 2018 review-well-documented, accurate, and credible. We found that the "well-documented" characteristic improved from partially to substantially met. However, the "accurate" and "credible" characteristics did not improve, with "accurate" remaining partially met and "credible" remaining minimally met. In November 2023, ICE began using a newly designed model to estimate the projected adult bed rate. According to ICE officials, this model will be used to develop the fiscal year 2025 cost estimate. We will continue to monitor ICE's efforts to implement this new model and plan to assess if the "accurate" and "credible" characteristics of the estimate have improved with the use of the new model.

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 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.
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