Two agencies of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have not been able to ensure that they are keeping high-risk noncitizens without proper identification from entering the country.
Meanwhile, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) cannot ensure that its vetting and screening procedures prevent these same high-risk noncitizens from boarding domestic flights – all because of gaps in CBP and ICE policies for acquiring the biographical and biometric information that TSA in the end must rely on.
While both “CBP and ICE have policies and procedures for screening noncitizens … neither component knows how many noncitizens without identification documents are released into the country,” says the partially redacted report of a recent audit performed by DHS’s Inspector General (IG) that had been classified as “sensitive security information.”
The IG reiterated its finding in June that DHS’s long-problematic Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) “could not access all data from federal partners to ensure complete screening and vetting of noncitizens seeking admission into the United States,” the IG said. “Specifically, we determined that CBP could not access all biometric data held in the Department of Defense’s Automated Biometric Identification System, which contains the Department of Defense’s Biometrically Enabled Watchlist.”
IDENT is the DHS-wide system for storage and processing of biometric and associated biographic information for federal national security; law enforcement; immigration and border management; intelligence; background investigations for national security positions and certain positions of public trust; and associated testing, training, management reporting, planning and analysis, and other administrative uses.
Hammering home the problem, the IG said “we documented … weaknesses in CBP’s screening processes that allowed high-risk individuals into the country. For example, one noncitizen released into the United States in 2022 was later found to appear on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Terrorist Watchlist. We also identified at least two persons paroled into the United States as part of Operation Allies Refuge/Operation Allies Welcome that may have posed a threat to national security and the safety of local communities.”
The IG’s “objective was to determine the extent to which CBP and ICE have policies and procedures to confirm an individual’s identity for the documents TSA accepts for domestic travel, and whether TSA ensures noncitizens traveling on domestic flights provide proof of identification consistent with all other domestic travelers.”
The IG found that while CBP and ICE have policies and procedures to check the identity of noncitizens seeking entry into the United States, which should include biometric identifiers, “they cannot always verify the noncitizens’ identities” and are too frequently allowed into the country anyway.
“According to federal law, noncitizens without identification are not admissible into the country and shall be detained,” the IG said. “However, CBP and ICE officials are permitted to release noncitizens into the United States based on various considerations. Prior to releasing these individuals, CBP and ICE immigration officers accept self-reported biographical information, which they use to issue various immigration forms. Once in the United States, noncitizens can travel on domestic flights.”
Before noncitizens are allowed to board domestic flights without TSA-acceptable identification, TSA requires these individuals to undergo vetting and additional screening. However, TSA security officers rely on law enforcement and immigration databases to validate the information on DHS-issued immigration forms, which is followed by additional screening procedures such as pat downs.
Consequently, the IG said, “TSA’s vetting and screening procedures do not eliminate the risk that noncitizens who may pose a threat to fellow passengers could board domestic flights.”
“Under current processes,” the IG said, “CBP and ICE cannot ensure they are keeping high-risk noncitizens without identification from entering the country. Additionally, TSA cannot ensure its vetting and screening procedures prevent high-risk noncitizens who may pose a threat to the flying public from boarding domestic flights.”
“Because of CBP’s and ICE’s process for inspecting and releasing noncitizens, TSA’s methods to screen for individuals who pose a threat would not necessarily prevent these individuals from boarding flights [REDACTED], the IG explained, noting that “according to the TSA Administrator, TSA relies on CBP and ICE officers to collect biographical and biometric information on noncitizens and conduct the requisite background checks to determine if the individual poses a threat to the United States.”
But, biometric data isn’t always collected and entered into the appropriate DHS databases used by CBP, ICE, and TSA.
If noncitizens do not have identification such as an unexpired visa, unexpired passport, reentry permit, border crossing identification card, or document of identity and nationality, immigration officers may deny their admission and subject them to removal from the United States without further hearing or review.
“However,” the IG said, “if noncitizens without identification indicate they either intend to apply for asylum or express a fear of persecution in their home country, an immigration officer will refer them for a credible fear interview. If asylum officers determine those claims are credible, these noncitizens may be released into the country to await further hearings or reviews of their claims to admission.”
Additionally, “CBP and ICE immigration officers can also parole noncitizens into the United States temporarily for ‘urgent humanitarian reasons’ or ‘significant public benefit.’” The IG said. “Before releasing noncitizens into the country, CBP and ICE immigration officers issue documents such as Form I-862 and Form I-220A. If the noncitizens do not have identification, CBP and ICE immigration officers accept noncitizens’ self-reported biographical information and use this information to populate the forms. They also collect photographs and fingerprints. Additionally, a DNA sample may be collected from noncitizens over 14 years old.”
Disturbingly, the IG said, “We requested data on the number of noncitizens who did not have identification and were released into the United States from FY 2021 through FY 2023. Because immigration officers are not required to document whether a noncitizen presented identification in the databases, the data we obtained may be incomplete. Therefore, neither CBP nor ICE could determine how many of the millions of noncitizens seeking entry in the United States each year entered without identification and whose self-reported biographic information was accepted. CBP and ICE immigration officers we interviewed acknowledged the risks of allowing noncitizens without identification into the country, yet neither CBP nor ICE conducted a comprehensive risk assessment for these noncitizens to assess the level of risk these individuals present and developed corresponding mitigation measures.”
DHS’s IG further reported that, “Once in the United States, noncitizens processed by DHS can travel on domestic flights. According to TSA’s Checkpoint Acceptance of Specific Documents for Non-Citizens or Non-U.S. Nationals Directive, if noncitizens do not have acceptable identification, TSA will use DHS-issued documents [REDACTED] to initiate procedures to validate ‘that the individual presenting the document is the same individual previously processed by DHS.’ Per the guidance, transportation security officers initiate these procedures by either using the CBP OneTM mobile application or contacting the National Transportation Vetting Center.”
The DHS Inspector General concluded that “[REDACTED] CBP, ICE, and TSA have developed and implemented policies and procedures to screen noncitizens. However, their efforts [REDACTED]. If CBP and ICE continue to allow noncitizens – whose identities immigration officers cannot confirm – to enter the country, they may inadvertently increase national security risks.”
The Inspector General made three recommendations, none of which DHS concurred with. The IG said DHS officials told his office that the DHS “continues to remove record numbers of noncitizens,” but “cannot categorically detain all individuals subject to detention, including those inadmissible noncitizens without identification documents, due to several reasons including a lack of resources. ICE officials stated that their currently funded detention capacity of approximately 41,500 beds does not allow them to detain every noncitizen without proper and valid identification documents. CBP officials added that their facilities are intended for ‘short-term’ detention, and they cannot legally hold noncitizens longer than the law allows, even to mitigate potential risks associated with releasing noncitizens without identification documents. Lastly, TSA officials stated that the statements and conclusions in the report do not reflect current policies and procedures and that the report did not integrate and emphasize substantive information TSA provided.”
In response, the Inspector General said, “We recognize the challenges the department faces, including the lack of resources and restrictions outlined in legislation governing the detention and admission process. Nevertheless, according to 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1)(A), Inspection of Applicants for Admission, and 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7), Documentation Requirements, noncitizens without identification documents are not admissible into the country and immigration officers may deny their admission and subject them to removal from the United States without further hearing or review. (Our report notes exceptions such as claims of asylum.) The point we make in the report is that CBP and ICE cannot always verify some noncitizens’ identities when they make decisions regarding whether to release the noncitizens into the country.” And that “lack of assurance creates a potential risk.”
The three recommendations the DHS Inspector General made are as follows:
- The Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner of CBP conduct a comprehensive analysis of the risks associated with releasing noncitizens into the country without identification and develop and implement policies and procedures to mitigate those risks;
- The Director of ICE conduct a comprehensive analysis of the risks associated with releasing noncitizens without identification from ICE custody and develop and implement policies and procedures to mitigate those risks; and
- The TSA Administrator use the results of the Requirements and Capabilities Analysis office’s updated CBP OneTM risk assessment to develop and implement policy and procedural changes needed to mitigate risks [REDACTED].
Article Topics
biometric identification | biometrics | border security | CBP | DHS | ICE | TSA | U.S. Government