A recent report from the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security on the performance of the 287(g) program determined “that Immigration and Customs Enforcement needs to continue efforts to implement our prior recommendations.”
A program known as Section 287(g) authorizes ICE to delegate federal immigration enforcement authorities to state and local law enforcement agencies to identify and remove criminal aliens. In a March report, the Office of the Inspector General made 33 recommendations “to strengthen management controls and improve oversight of 287(g) program operations.”
This latest report (which you can read in full below) shows that the OIG removed five of its recommendations and that 28 have not been resolved, and also makes 16 recommendations for ICE “to improve overall operations of the 287(g) program.”
The report’s authors write, “ICE has not implemented procedures to ensure the integrity and accountability over 287(g) program resources.”
As a result, ICE needs to “manage and oversee 287(g) funds to ensure the appropriate use, ensure adequate supporting documentation to track and monitor the allocation, obligation, and expenditure of funds, ensure these funds were used as intended and re-evaluate the current staffing strategy.”
The report also recommends that ICE “re-evaluate the current staffing strategy for the 287(g) Inspections Group, staff inspections with field agents who have sufficient knowledge of the 287(g) program and ensure that the 287(g) Inspections Group is notified of actions taken as a result of recommendations in their inspection reports.”
This latest OIG report further notes that “ICE and [local law enforcement agencies’] compliance with revised MOA cannot be readily determined.” The law requires a written Memorandum of Agreements to delegate immigration enforcement authorities to local law enforcement agencies.
The report’s review of 287(g) arrest priority levels states:
Our initial [March 2010] 287(g) report noted that ICE’s primary performance measure for the 287(g) program is the number of aliens encountered by 287(g) officers. However, this performance measure did not (1) align with ICE’s three-tier priority level system for arrest and detention of aliens, or (2) provide a focus on aliens who pose a threat to public safety or are a danger to the community, which, according to ICE, is a primary purpose for their collaboration with local law enforcement.
The report says that
ICE should develop performance measures with goals for determining 287(g) program success in removing criminal aliens who pose a threat to public safety or a danger to the community; establish and implement a comprehensive process for determining whether 287(g) program goals are being achieved and establish a follow-up process to ensure that actions taken by [law enforcement agencies] to improve their compliance with ICE arrest priority levels.
For this review, between March and July 2010, OIG interviewed law enforcement officials, 287(g) officers, and ICE personnel working with the 287(g) program sites operating for more than one year.
Read it in full:
