Department of Homeland Security

During our unannounced inspection of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Torrance County Detention Facility (Torrance) in Estancia, NM, we found that Torrance complied with ICE detention standards for detainee grievances and the voluntary work program. We could not assess compliance...

Although the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) processed and obligated funds timely to other Federal agencies (OFA), it did not provide sufficient oversight to ensure OFAs used pandemic funding as required. Specifically, FEMA did not develop detailed cost estimates when initially...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) did not manage Puerto Rico Disaster Case Management Program (PR-DCMP) funds inaccordance with Federal regulations and FEMA program requirements. According to Federal regulations, non-Federal entities must supportaccumulation of costs and provide...

In March 2022, we conducted unannounced inspections of six U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities in the Del Rio area of Texas, specifically five U.S. Border Patrol facilities and one Office of Field Operations (OFO) port of entry. Our inspections and subsequent analysis showed that...

On August 29, 2021, the President designated the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the lead Federal agency for Operation Allies Welcome (OAW), a Federal effort to resettle in the United States vulnerable Afghans who were evacuated from Afghanistan after thefall of the Afghan government in the...

The Unified Coordination Group (UCG) struggled to track Afghan evacuees who independently departed U.S. military bases designated as “safe havens.” Specifically, UCG officials had difficulties documenting when independent departures occurred.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) did not implement controls to prevent state workforce agencies (SWA) from paying more than $2.6 million in Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) for potentially fraudulent claims made by Department of Homeland Security employees, or claimants who fraudulently...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and otherFederal and state partners, used the CDC Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) in an effort to identify and address inequities in minority and disadvantaged communities...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) did not implement controls that may have prevented the 21 state workforce agencies (SWA) in our review from distributing more than $3.7 billion in improper payments through its Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are the primary collaborators on the Visa Security Program (VSP), with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) having a limited role.