Alien Smuggling: DHS Needs to Better Leverage Investigative Resources and Measure Program Performance along the Southwest Border
GAO-10-328
Published: May 24, 2010. Publicly Released: Jul 22, 2010.
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Highlights
Alien smuggling along the southwest border is a threat to the security of the United States and Mexico. Within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Office of Investigations (OI)--part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)--is the primary federal agency responsible for investigating alien smuggling along the southwest border. As requested, this report addresses, for the southwest border, (1) OI's efforts to counter alien smuggling since 2005, and opportunities, if any, for ICE to use its resources more effectively; (2) the progress DHS has made in seizing alien smugglers' assets since fiscal year 2005 and any promising techniques that could be applied to seize smugglers' assets; and (3) the extent to which ICE has objectives related to alien smuggling and measures to assess progress. GAO interviewed officials in all four OI offices along the southwest border and analyzed data on OI's cases and seizures, from fiscal years 2005 through 2009.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement | In order to improve federal efforts to address alien smuggling, the Assistant Secretary for ICE should better align agency staff responsibilities with their agency missions and improve efficiency, study the feasibility of expanding the Law Enforcement Agency Response (LEAR) program along the southwest border and, if it is found to be feasible, expand the program. | We found that the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) directorate within DHS' Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported that its investigative resources were strained. However, in some cases HSI investigators were conducting immigration-related activities that were not consistent with HSI's primary mission of conducting criminal investigations such as responding to calls for assistance from state and local law enforcement agencies to apprehend and remove aliens unlawfully in the country. In 2006, another ICE subcomponent, took over responsibility for responding to state and local law enforcement calls in the Phoenix metropolitan area,... through the Law Enforcement Agency Response (LEAR) program, allowing HSI agents to spend more time on criminal investigations. Therefore, we recommended that the Assistant Secretary for ICE evaluate the feasibility of expanding the LEAR program to be in a better position to determine if it could more efficiently direct its HSI resources toward alien smuggling and other investigations. In July 2012, ICE reported that it conducted an analysis of the LEAR program and developed a proposal to expand LEAR teams to additional field offices along the southwest border as part of ICE's Criminal Alien Program. ICE proposed placing these teams in the areas with the highest need to help respond to calls from state, local, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies 24 hour per day, 7 days per week. However, ICE reported that DHS could not identify sufficient funds to implement LEAR expansion. Because ICE studied the feasibility of expanding LEAR along the southwest border, we are closing this recommendation as implemented.
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| United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement | In order to improve federal efforts to address alien smuggling, the Assistant Secretary for ICE should determine whether ICE could utilize Arizona's financial investigative techniques to address alien smuggling, direct Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center (HSTC) or another ICE-designated entity to conduct an assessment of the Arizona Attorney General's financial investigations strategy to identify any promising investigative techniques for federal use. | We found that alien smuggling along the southwest border was an increasing threat to the security of the United States and Mexico. To counter this threat, a Task Force led by the Arizona Attorney General had disrupted alien smuggling operations and seized alien smugglers assets by focusing on cash transactions through money service businesses, the primary method of payment to alien smugglers. Officials in DHS's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Directorate within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) believed that a fuller examination of Arizona's financial investigative techniques and their potential for use at the federal level to counter alien smuggling across the southwest...
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| United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement | In order to improve federal efforts to address alien smuggling, the Assistant Secretary for ICE should better assess OI's progress toward its investigative goals, develop performance measures for asset seizures related to alien smuggling investigations. | We found that seizing alien smugglers assets is one of the objectives of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Directorate within the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). However, HSI did not have a performance measure for asset seizures related to alien smuggling cases. Tracking the use of asset seizures in alien smuggling investigations as a performance measure could help HSI monitor its progress toward its goal of denying smuggling organizations the profit from criminal acts. Therefore, we recommended that the Assistant Secretary for ICE develop performance measures for asset seizures related to alien smuggling investigations in order...
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| United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement | In order to improve federal efforts to address alien smuggling, the Assistant Secretary for ICE should help ensure that Office of Detention and Removal Operations (DRO's) Mexican Interior Repatriation Program (MIRP) achieves the results intended, develop performance measures for the program. | The Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) directorate within the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operates the Mexican Interior Repatriation Program (MIRP) which removes aliens from the United States to the interior of Mexico. Although the program's objectives are to deter individuals from returning and help disrupt alien smuggling operations, ERO had not fully evaluated the program's progress in meeting these objectives. Therefore, we recommended that the Assistant Secretary for ICE develop performance measures for the program to help ensure that the program achieves the results intended. DHS disagreed with our recommendation because...
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| United States Customs and Border Protection | In order to improve federal efforts to address alien smuggling, and to help ensure that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP's) alien smuggling-related enforcement programs achieve the results intended, the Commissioner of CBP should establish a plan, including performance measures, with time frames for evaluating CBP's enforcement programs. | We found that alien smuggling along the southwest border is a threat to the security of the United States and Mexico. In order to deter aliens from repeatedly crossing the border illegally and to deter alien smuggling, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) implemented three different alien smuggling-related enforcement programs. However, CBP did not have performance measures for any of these programs. As a result, CBP program officials may lack critical information with which to track the progress they are making toward program goals. Therefore, we recommended that the CBP Commissioner establish a plan, including performance measures, with time...
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| Department of Justice | In order to improve federal efforts to address alien smuggling, and to enhance the ability of the federal government to seize real property associated with alien smuggling activities, the Attorney General should assess whether amending the civil forfeiture authority for real property used to facilitate the smuggling of aliens remains necessary and, if it remains necessary, develop and submit to Congress such an amendment with appropriate justification. | Civil asset forfeiture authority allows federal authorities to seize property used to facilitate a crime without first having to convict the property owner of a crime. We found that a lack of civil asset forfeiture authority for real property used to facilitate alien smuggling made federal seizure of real property (such as real estate) infrequent and difficult in alien smuggling cases. As a result, we recommended that the Attorney General should assess whether amending the civil forfeiture authority for real property used to facilitate the smuggling of aliens remained necessary and, if it remained necessary, develop and submit to Congress such an amendment with appropriate justification....
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