U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) released noncitizens without identification into the United States and allowed them to fly on domestic flights without properly assessing the risks involved, according to a report by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General Joseph Cuffari.
“CBP and ICE immigration officers we interviewed acknowledged the risks of allowing noncitizens without identification into the country, yet neither CBP nor ICE conducted a comprehensive risk assessment for these noncitizens to assess the level of risk these individuals present and developed corresponding mitigation measures,” Cuffari’s partially redacted report notes. Concern is also expressed that “neither CBP nor ICE could determine how many of the millions of noncitizens seeking entry in the United States each year entered without identification” because comprehensive records are not kept.
On the TSA allowing potentially dangerous migrants to board domestic flights, the report warns, “Because of CBP’s and ICE’s process for inspecting and releasing noncitizens, TSA’s methods to screen for individuals who pose a threat would not necessarily prevent these individuals from boarding flights.”
“If CBP and ICE continue to allow noncitizens — whose identities immigration officers cannot confirm — to enter the country, they may inadvertently increase national security risks,” the report concludes, recommending “comprehensive analysis of the risks associated with releasing noncitizens into the country without identification” by CBP and ICE and “procedural changes” at the TSA.
The Biden-Harris DHS is rejecting all of Cuffari’s recommendations. The Inspector General, in turn, has submitted follow-up commentary and recommendations to the DHS, with the department having 90 days to respond.
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