Tag: Oversight

Results of Unannounced Inspections of CBP Holding Facilities in the El Paso Area

Published by the DHS Office of Inspector-General on September 15, 2023.

Visits to El Paso CBP holding facilities at a time of high migration found “compliance with standards such as segregating males, females, and juveniles; managing property; providing regularly scheduled meals and showers; and maintaining cleanliness of holding rooms” to be “inconsistent.” (link at oig.dhs.gov)

Tags: Conditions in Custody, El Paso, Oversight

Abuses at the U.S.- Mexico Border: How To Address Failures and Protect Rights

Published by WOLA and the Kino Border Initiative on August 2, 2023.

Drawing heavily on this site’s database and the accountability work of the Nogales-based Kino Border Initiative, this in-depth report looks at the chronic nature of human rights abuse at the U.S.-Mexico border, how DHS’s accountability system is meant to work, and where it often fails. It offers more than 40 policy recommendations.

Tags: Human Rights, Organizational Culture, Oversight

Del Rio Area Struggled With Prolonged Detention, Consistent Compliance With Cbp’s Teds Standards, and Data Integrity

Published by the DHS Office of Inspector-General on September 29, 2022.

Among findings: “Border Patrol held 1,164 detainees in custody in four facilities longer than specified in the National Standards on Transport, Escort, Detention, and Search (TEDS), which generally limit detention in these facilities to 72 hours.” (Original link)

Tags: Border Patrol, Conditions in Custody, Del Rio, Detention, Oversight

Operational Challenges Within ORR and the ORR Emergency Intake Site at Fort Bliss Hindered Case Management for Children

Published by the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector-General Office on September 21, 2022.

Finds that operational challenges within the Office of Refugee Resettlement “hindered case management” at an emergency site at Fort Bliss, Texas in 2021, “which may have adversely affected unaccompanied children’s safety and well-being.” (Original link)

Tags: Human Rights, Oversight, Processing, Unaccompanied Children

Border Patrol: Actions Needed to Improve Checkpoint Oversight and Data

Published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office on June 6, 2022.

An oversight report finds that Border Patrol’s data on checkpoint drug seizures is reliable, but that the agency keeps poor records on “other checkpoint activity data, including on apprehensions of smuggled people and canine assists with drug seizures.” (Link at gao.gov)

Tags: Border Patrol, Checkpoints, Drug Seizures, Organizational Culture, Oversight

Yuma Sector Border Patrol Struggled to Meet TEDS Standards for Single Adult Men but Generally Met TEDS Standards for Other Populations

Published by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector-General on April 14, 2022.

Unannounced September 2021 visits to three facilities in Yuma found Border Patrol generally meeting national standards on transport, escort, detention, and search for all populations except single adult men, who were held in crowded conditions and high temperatures. (Link at oig.dhs.gov)

Tags: Border Patrol, Conditions in Custody, Detention, Oversight, Processing, Yuma

Protecting the Predators at DHS: How a Federal Watchdog Suppresses Findings of Sexual Harassment and Domestic Violence

Published by the Project on Government Oversight on April 7, 2022.

Newly obtained documents point to the DHS Inspector-General suppressing, delaying, and watering down information about serious sexual harassment and domestic abuse patterns within the Department’s law enforcement agencies, including CBP and ICE.

Tags: Gender Perspective, Organizational Culture, Oversight, Sexual Assault