Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) did not adjudicate affirmative asylum applications in a timely manner to meet statutory timelines and to reduce its existing backlog. At the end of fiscal year 2023, USCIS had more than 1 million asylum cases pending determination. Of those, USCIS...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Region IV has a process for identifying and evaluating single sites damaged by multiple disasters, which it followed in administering Public Assistance in fiscal year 2022 for three federally declared weather-related events in Kentucky. Specifically...

The Department of State (DoS) issues nonimmigrant visas to individuals seeking entry into the United States on a temporary basis for tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work, study, or other reasons. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to address staffing limitations and visa...

ICE officers did not always perform risk classification assessments to ensure they appropriately detained or released noncitizens held in ICE custody. According to a 2012 email message from the Executive Associate Director, ICE officers are responsible for completing the risk classification...

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) International Airport office in , and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) office did not have an effective process for detaining and removing inadmissible travelers. Between fiscal years 2021 and 2023, CBP We conducted this evaluation to assess...

Although the Department of Homeland Security and its components implemented internal controls to ensure Bankcard Program spending limits are established based on procurement needs, components did not always adhere to internal control policies and procedures. Of the 787 bankcard cardholder accounts...

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spent $60 million of Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) procurement, construction, and improvements (PC&I) funding on six contracts in fiscal years 2022 and 2023 to modernize and improve CBPowned land ports of entry (LPOEs). In FY 2022, CBP spent...

The Department of Homeland Security's technology, procedures, and coordination were not fully effective to screen and vet non citizens applying for admission into the United States or asylum seekers whose asylum applications were pending for an extended period. Although U.S. Customs and Border...

During our unannounced inspection of U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Denver Contract Detention Facility (Denver) in Aurora, Colorado, we found that Denver’s staff complied with Performance-Based National Detention Standards 2011, revised in December 2016, for recreation, use of force...

We rated the Department of Homeland Security’s information security program for FY 2023 as “effective,” according to this year’s reporting instructions. We based this rating on our evaluation of the Department’s compliance with requirements of the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of...