WASHINGTON, DC - On June 12th, the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a heavily redacted report stating that "CBP and ICE Did Not Have an Effective Process for Detaining and Removing Inadmissible Travelers at an International Airport."
The report shows that from fiscal 2021 through 2023, Border Patrol officials were forced to release 383 "inadmissible travelers" into the US. Forty-four percent of those detained and released, or 168 individuals, didn't return for removal flights, and of those 168, 77 people were not issued Notices-to-appear or NTAs.
The report concludes its findings, "This occurred because CBP -REDACTED- did not have an effective process to track which inadmissible travelers failed to return for their removal flights, and thus should receive NTAs. Additionally, CBP -REDACTED- decreased the number of staff responsible for issuing NTAs to these inadmissible travelers, which contributed to a backlog of unissued NTAs for identified inadmissible travelers."
ICE leaders told the OIG that they must deny CBP's overnight detention requests for these "inadmissible travelers" due to limitations in staffing, bed space, and overtime funding to monitor them outside of normal operating hours. Transferring them to another airport is also fraught with logistical problems and depends on cooperation from airlines as well as another airport's CBP offices.
As reported by the Government Executive, dozens of the cases were never followed up on and the sum total represents a small fraction of the over 66,000 air travelers Customs and Border Protection determined were inadmissible over the period of two years and focused on just the one airport.
The report details the failures of ICE and CBP in damning detail claiming "a time-consuming paperwork review and medical evaluation process," as justification to release these "inadmissible travelers" into the country in violation of immigration law.
The OIG wrote, "ICE -REDACTED- leadership said they deny these requests because they have limited staff to respond to them due to job vacancies and officers on detail assignments. They said booking inadmissible travelers into a detention center requires a time-consuming paperwork review and medical evaluation process, and the office does not have enough personnel to frequently complete this process for overnight detention requests.
"Additionally, CBP’s bed space requests typically occur after business hours, but ICE -REDACTED- leadership said their office does not have enough staff to work shifts at night or on weekends. Instead, their office only has one officer available to perform unscheduled work at night and on weekends to detain noncitizens released from state prisons and local jails."
According to Government Executive, ICE responded to the OIG report stating that it is working under a memorandum of understanding with CBP allowing it to accept inadmissible travelers for detention. However, the CBP rejected the OIG findings that it has insufficient staffing to issue NTAs which could result in the removal of the inadmissible travelers who fail to appear.
The report shows that from fiscal 2021 through 2023, Border Patrol officials were forced to release 383 "inadmissible travelers" into the US. Forty-four percent of those detained and released, or 168 individuals, didn't return for removal flights, and of those 168, 77 people were not issued Notices-to-appear or NTAs.
The report concludes its findings, "This occurred because CBP -REDACTED- did not have an effective process to track which inadmissible travelers failed to return for their removal flights, and thus should receive NTAs. Additionally, CBP -REDACTED- decreased the number of staff responsible for issuing NTAs to these inadmissible travelers, which contributed to a backlog of unissued NTAs for identified inadmissible travelers."
ICE leaders told the OIG that they must deny CBP's overnight detention requests for these "inadmissible travelers" due to limitations in staffing, bed space, and overtime funding to monitor them outside of normal operating hours. Transferring them to another airport is also fraught with logistical problems and depends on cooperation from airlines as well as another airport's CBP offices.
As reported by the Government Executive, dozens of the cases were never followed up on and the sum total represents a small fraction of the over 66,000 air travelers Customs and Border Protection determined were inadmissible over the period of two years and focused on just the one airport.
The report details the failures of ICE and CBP in damning detail claiming "a time-consuming paperwork review and medical evaluation process," as justification to release these "inadmissible travelers" into the country in violation of immigration law.
The OIG wrote, "ICE -REDACTED- leadership said they deny these requests because they have limited staff to respond to them due to job vacancies and officers on detail assignments. They said booking inadmissible travelers into a detention center requires a time-consuming paperwork review and medical evaluation process, and the office does not have enough personnel to frequently complete this process for overnight detention requests.
"Additionally, CBP’s bed space requests typically occur after business hours, but ICE -REDACTED- leadership said their office does not have enough staff to work shifts at night or on weekends. Instead, their office only has one officer available to perform unscheduled work at night and on weekends to detain noncitizens released from state prisons and local jails."
According to Government Executive, ICE responded to the OIG report stating that it is working under a memorandum of understanding with CBP allowing it to accept inadmissible travelers for detention. However, the CBP rejected the OIG findings that it has insufficient staffing to issue NTAs which could result in the removal of the inadmissible travelers who fail to appear.
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