Published by the DHS Office of Inspector-General on September 25, 2023.
Finds deficiencies and inadequacies in CBP’s video and audio surveillance systems. (Link at oig.dhs.gov)
CBP Needs to Improve Its Video and Audio Coverage at Land Ports of Entry
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)
Homeland Security: Office of Intelligence and Analysis Should Improve Privacy Oversight and Assessment of Its Effectiveness
Published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office on September 12, 2023.
Finds that the DHS intelligence office needs to do more “to protect the privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties of U.S. persons.”
Southwest Border: Additional Actions Needed to Address Cultural and Natural Resource Impacts from Barrier Construction
Published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office on September 5, 2023.
Finds that Trump-era border wall “construction harmed some cultural and natural resources, for example, by blasting at a tribal burial site and altering water flows.” (Link at gao.gov)
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.
Border Security Status Report Third Quarter, Fiscal Year 2022
Published by the Department of Homeland Security on May 23, 2023.
A compendium of information about U.S. law enforcement and migration agencies’ activities at the border during the quarter. (Link at dhs.gov)
Border Security Status Report Second Quarter, Fiscal Year 2022
Published by the Department of Homeland Security on January 19, 2023.
A compendium of information about U.S. law enforcement and migration agencies’ activities at the border during the quarter. (Link at dhs.gov)
Southwest Border Technology Integration Program Calendar Year 2022 – Increment 2 Funding
Updates about implementation of several technology and surveillance programs along the U.S.-Mexico border. (Link at dhs.gov)
U.S. Border Patrol Specialty Units Fiscal Year 2022 Report to Congress
Published by Customs and Border Protection on November 14, 2022.
Describes units like the Special Operations Group, BORSTAR, the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, Mobile Response Team, and others. (Link at dhs.gov)
Southwest Border: Challenges and Efforts Implementing New Processes for Noncitizen Families
Published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office on October 17, 2022.
Examines Border Patrol’s rapid releases of asylum seekers without initiating immigration proceedings. 75 percent of those released did report to ICE offices. (Original link)
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)
Operational Challenges Within ORR and the ORR Emergency Intake Site at Fort Bliss Hindered Case Management for Children
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)
U.S. Border Patrol Screened Migrants at the Southwest Border but Could Strengthen Processes
Published by the DHS Office of Inspector-General on September 19, 2022.
“We found that Border Patrol did not issue A-numbers for 107 of 384 migrants, most of whom were paroled into the country or issued Notices to Report.” (Original link)
New information that raises the stakes on the investigation of Border Patrol Critical Incident Teams (BPCITs) and implicates other parts of CBP
Published by the Southern Border Communities Coalition on August 11, 2022.
A letter to congressional committee chairs about further activities of Border Patrol’s controversial Critical Incident Teams, which are to be abolished at the end of September 2022.
I was a border patrol agent. The experience was horrifying
Published by the Guardian on June 14, 2022.
Former Border Patrol agent Jenn Budd, author of Against the Wall, writes about her harrowing experience in the agency and about the 2010 killing of migrant Anastasio Hernández-Rojas.
Egbert v. Boule decision
Published by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 8, 2022.
In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 8 that a U.S. citizen could not sue a Border Patrol agent who assaulted him. (Link at supremecourt.gov)
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)
Caravanas 2021: Nuevos Retos para las Movilidades en México
Publicado por la Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos, 3 de junio de 2022.
The Mexican government’s human rights ombusdman reports on the human rights aspects of attempts to form migrant caravans in 2021. (Link at cndh.org.mx)
Letter from DHS Office of Inspector General to Senators Durbin and Grassley
Published by the DHS Office of Inspector-General on May 13, 2022.
The DHS Inspector-General responds to questions about his office’s decisions either not to publish, or to soften the findings of, troubling reports about sexual harassment and domestic abuse. (Link at oig.dhs.gov)
Border Oversight: Monitoring Conduct and Accountability in U.S. Border Law Enforcement
Published by the Washington Office on Latin America on April 28, 2022.
The commentary that WOLA published to accompany the launch of this database. (Español)
Reality Check: Seven Times Texas Leaders Misled the Public About Operation Lone Star
Published by ProPublica, the Texas Tribune, and the Marshall Project on April 27, 2022.
Finds seven examples in which Texas’s state government has been less-than-forthcoming, to say the least, about the results of Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) state border crackdown.
Southwest Border: CBP Should Improve Data Collection, Reporting, and Evaluation for the Missing Migrant Program
Published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office on April 20, 2022.
The congressional oversight agency finds that Border Patrol has failed to collect, record, or report to Congress data about migrant deaths at the border. (Link at gao.gov)
Report on Internal Investigations and Employee Accountability FY2021
Published by CBP on April 14, 2022.
Finds that CBP took 3,995 formal disciplinary actions against members of its 64,000-person workforce in fiscal year 2021, up from 2,021 actions in 2020. (link at cbp.gov)
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)
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.