We determined that before July 12, 2018, migrant parents did not consistently have the opportunity to reunify with their children before removal. Although DHS and ICE have claimed that parents removed without their children chose to leave them behind, there was no policy or standard process requiring ICE officers to ascertain, document, or honor parents’ decisions regarding their children. As a result, from the time the Government began increasing criminal prosecutions in July 2017, ICE removed at least 348 separated parents without documenting whether those parents wanted to leave their children in the United States. In fact, ICE removed some parents without their children despite having evidence the parents wanted to bring their children back to their home country. In addition, we found that some ICE records purportedly documenting migrant parents’ decisions to leave their children in the United States were significantly flawed. We made two recommendation that will ensure ICE documents separated migrant parents’ decisions regarding their minor children upon removal from the United States, and develops a process to share information with Government officials to contact parents for whom ICE lacks documentation on reunification preferences. ICE concurred with our recommendations.
| Report Date | Agency Reviewed / Investigated | Report Title | Type | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Homeland Security | ICE Did Not Consistently Provide Separated Migrant Parents the Opportunity to Bring Their Children Upon Removal | Audit | Agency-Wide | View Report | |
| Office of Personnel Management | Audit of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's Fiscal Year 2020 Improper Payments Reporting | Audit | Agency-Wide | View Report | |
| Department of Energy | The Department of Energy’s Payment Integrity Reporting in the Fiscal Year 2020 Agency Financial Report | Audit |
|
View Report | |
| Department of the Treasury | American Rescue Plan- Application of Lessons Learned From the Coronavirus Relief Fund | Other | Agency-Wide | View Report | |
| Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation | DOJ Press Release: Guilty Plea in First-In-The-Nation Cares Act Fraud Case | Investigation |
|
View Report | |
| Farm Credit Administration | Payment Integrity Information Act Compliance Report for Fiscal Year 2020 | Other | Agency-Wide | View Report | |
| Internal Revenue Service | Backup Withholding Noncompliance and Underreported Employment Taxes Continue to Contribute Billions of Dollars to the Tax Gap | Audit | Agency-Wide | View Report | |
| Federal Communications Commission | Audit of the Federal Communications Commission Compliance with the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 FY2020 | Audit |
|
View Report | |
| General Services Administration | PBS's National Capital Region is Failing to Adequately Manage and Oversee the Building Services Contracts at the FDA's White Oak Campus | Audit | Agency-Wide | View Report | |
| Department of Defense | Evaluation of the Department of Defense’s Handling of Incidents of Sexual Assault Against (or Involving) Midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy | Inspection / Evaluation | Agency-Wide | View Report | |
