Alien Smuggling
DHS Could Better Address Alien Smuggling along the Southwest Border by Leveraging Investigative Resources and Measuring Program Performance
Gao ID: GAO-10-919T July 22, 2010
This testimony discusses federal efforts to address alien smuggling along the southwest border. Alien smuggling along the southwest border is an increasing threat to the security of the United States and Mexico as well as to the safety of both law enforcement and smuggled aliens. One reason for this increased threat is the involvement of drug trafficking organizations in alien smuggling. According to the National Drug Intelligence Center's (NDIC) 2008 National Drug Threat Assessment, the southwest border region is the principal entry point for smuggled aliens from Mexico, Central America, and South America. Aliens from countries of special interest to the United States such as Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan (known as special-interest aliens) also illegally enter the United States through the region. According to the NDIC assessment, Mexican drug trafficking organizations have become increasingly involved in alien smuggling. These organizations collect fees from alien smuggling organizations for the use of specific smuggling routes, and available reporting indicates that some Mexican drug trafficking organizations specialize in smuggling special-interest aliens into the United States. As a result, these organizations now have alien smuggling as an additional source of funding to counter U.S. and Mexican government law enforcement efforts against them. Violence associated with alien smuggling has also increased in recent years, particularly in Arizona. According to the NDIC assessment, expanding border security initiatives and additional U.S. Border Patrol resources are likely obstructing regularly used smuggling routes and fueling this increase in violence, particularly violence directed at law enforcement officers. Alien smugglers and guides are more likely than in past years to use violence against U.S. law enforcement officers in order to smuggle groups of aliens across the southwest border. In July 2009, a border patrol agent was killed while patrolling the border by aliens illegally crossing the border, the first shooting death of an agent in more than 10 years. Conflicts are also emerging among rival alien smuggling organizations. Assaults, kidnappings, and hostage situations attributed to this conflict are increasing, particularly in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona. Communities across the country are at risk since among those individuals illegally crossing the border are criminal aliens and gang members who pose public safety concerns for communities throughout the country. Within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Office of Investigations (OI) is responsible for investigating alien smuggling. In addition, DHS's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and ICE's Office of Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) have alien smuggling-related programs. This testimony is based on a May 2010 report we are releasing publicly today on alien smuggling along the southwest border. As requested, like the report, this testimony will discuss the following key issues: (1) the amount of investigative effort OI has devoted to alien smuggling along the southwest border since fiscal year 2005 and an opportunity for ICE to use its investigative resources more effectively; (2) DHS progress in seizing assets related to alien smuggling since fiscal year 2005 and financial investigative techniques that could be applied along the southwest border to target and seize the monetary assets of smuggling organizations; and (3) the extent to which ICE/OI and CBP measure progress toward achieving alien smuggling-related program objectives. Our May 2010 report also provides a discussion of the extent to which ICE/OI and CBP have program objectives related to alien smuggling.
We found the following: (1) OI work years devoted to investigating alien smuggling along the southwest border increased from about 190 work years in fiscal year 2005 to about 197 work years in fiscal year 2009, an overall increase of 4 percent, with hundreds of arrests, indictments, and convictions resulting. The overall number of work years decreased from about 190 work years in fiscal year 2005 to 174 in fiscal year 2008, but increased 23 work years from fiscal years 2008 to 2009 primarily due to an increase in one office. The percentage of time OI investigators spend on alien smuggling investigations, versus other investigative areas, such as drugs, has remained steady during this time period at 16-17 percent. (2) The value of OI alien smuggling asset seizures has decreased since fiscal year 2005, and two promising opportunities exist that could be applied to target and seize the monetary assets of smuggling organizations. According to OI data, the value of alien smuggling seizures nationwide increased from about $11.2 million in fiscal year 2005 to about $17.4 million in fiscal year 2007, but declined to $12.1 million in fiscal year 2008 and to about $7.6 million in fiscal year 2009. (3) OI and CBP have not fully evaluated progress toward achieving alien smuggling-related program objectives. Federal standards for internal control call for agencies to establish performance measures and indicators in order to evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts. One of the major objectives of OI's alien smuggling investigations is to seize smugglers' assets, but OI does not have performance measures for asset seizures related to alien smuggling cases. Tracking the use of asset seizures in alien smuggling investigations as a performance measure could help OI monitor its progress toward its goal of denying smuggling organizations the profit from criminal acts. Thus, in our May 2010 report, we recommended that ICE develop performance measures for asset seizures related to alien smuggling investigations. ICE concurred with the recommendation and stated that ICE is in the process of assessing all of its performance measures and creating a performance plan.
GAO-10-919T, Alien Smuggling: DHS Could Better Address Alien Smuggling along the Southwest Border by Leveraging Investigative Resources and Measuring Program Performance
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Testimony:
Before the Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global
Counterterrorism, Committee on Homeland Security, House of
Representatives:
United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
For Release on Delivery:
Expected at 10:00 a.m. EDT:
Thursday, July 22, 2010:
Alien Smuggling:
DHS Could Better Address Alien Smuggling along the Southwest Border by
Leveraging Investigative Resources and Measuring Program Performance:
Statement of Richard M. Stana, Director:
Homeland Security and Justice Issues:
GAO-10-919T:
Chairman Cuellar, Ranking Member Miller, and Members of the
Subcommittee:
I am pleased to be here today to discuss federal efforts to address
alien smuggling along the southwest border. Alien smuggling along the
southwest border is an increasing threat to the security of the United
States and Mexico as well as to the safety of both law enforcement and
smuggled aliens. One reason for this increased threat is the
involvement of drug trafficking organizations in alien smuggling.
According to the National Drug Intelligence Center's (NDIC) 2008
National Drug Threat Assessment, the southwest border region is the
principal entry point for smuggled aliens from Mexico, Central
America, and South America. Aliens from countries of special interest
to the United States such as Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan
(known as special-interest aliens) also illegally enter the United
States through the region. According to the NDIC assessment, Mexican
drug trafficking organizations have become increasingly involved in
alien smuggling. These organizations collect fees from alien smuggling
organizations for the use of specific smuggling routes, and available
reporting indicates that some Mexican drug trafficking organizations
specialize in smuggling special-interest aliens into the United
States. As a result, these organizations now have alien smuggling as
an additional source of funding to counter U.S. and Mexican government
law enforcement efforts against them.
Violence associated with alien smuggling has also increased in recent
years, particularly in Arizona. According to the NDIC assessment,
expanding border security initiatives and additional U.S. Border
Patrol resources are likely obstructing regularly used smuggling
routes and fueling this increase in violence, particularly violence
directed at law enforcement officers. Alien smugglers and guides are
more likely than in past years to use violence against U.S. law
enforcement officers in order to smuggle groups of aliens across the
southwest border. In July 2009, a border patrol agent was killed while
patrolling the border by aliens illegally crossing the border, the
first shooting death of an agent in more than 10 years. Conflicts are
also emerging among rival alien smuggling organizations. Assaults,
kidnappings, and hostage situations attributed to this conflict are
increasing, particularly in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona. Communities
across the country are at risk since among those individuals illegally
crossing the border are criminal aliens and gang members who pose
public safety concerns for communities throughout the country.
Within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Immigration and
Customs Enforcement's Office of Investigations (OI) is responsible for
investigating alien smuggling. In addition, DHS's Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) and ICE's Office of Detention and Removal Operations
(DRO) have alien smuggling-related programs.
My testimony is based on a May 2010 report we are releasing publicly
today on alien smuggling along the southwest border.[Footnote 1] As
requested, like the report, my testimony will discuss the following
key issues: (1) the amount of investigative effort OI has devoted to
alien smuggling along the southwest border since fiscal year 2005 and
an opportunity for ICE to use its investigative resources more
effectively; (2) DHS progress in seizing assets related to alien
smuggling since fiscal year 2005 and financial investigative
techniques that could be applied along the southwest border to target
and seize the monetary assets of smuggling organizations; and (3) the
extent to which ICE/OI and CBP measure progress toward achieving alien
smuggling-related program objectives. Our May 2010 report also
provides a discussion of the extent to which ICE/OI and CBP have
program objectives related to alien smuggling.
For our report, we conducted site visits and interviews with officials
in all four of the OI special agent-in-charge (SAC) offices along the
southwest border. We also interviewed officials with six of the nine
Border Patrol sectors along the southwest border and interviewed
officials in all five U.S. Attorney's districts along the southwest
border. The six Border Patrol sectors were selected based on their
proximity to OI SAC offices we visited and their varying volumes of
removable alien apprehensions. In addition, we interviewed the Arizona
Attorney General and officials with the Arizona Attorney General's
Financial Crimes Task Force and analyzed relevant court affidavits to
obtain information on the results of their efforts to address alien
smuggling in Arizona. We supplemented our interviews with analyses of
OI case management data (fiscal years 2005 through 2009), Justice
Department data on the outcome of alien smuggling cases presented for
prosecution to U.S. Attorneys along the southwest border (fiscal years
2005 through 2009), OI and Border Patrol asset seizure data (fiscal
years 2005 through 2009), and reviews of CBP and ICE alien smuggling
program documentation. We determined that despite limitations in
certain data collection and oversight processes that are discussed
more fully in our May 2010 report, case management, asset seizure, and
alien smuggling case outcome data were sufficiently reliable for the
purposes of our report. More detailed information on our scope and
methodology appears in our May 2010 report. Our work was performed in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
OI Work Years Spent Investigating Alien Smuggling along the Southwest
Border Recently Increased; Opportunity Exists to Better Leverage
Resources:
OI work years devoted to investigating alien smuggling along the
southwest border increased from about 190 work years in fiscal year
2005 to about 197 work years in fiscal year 2009, an overall increase
of 4 percent, with hundreds of arrests, indictments, and convictions
resulting. The overall number of work years decreased from about 190
work years in fiscal year 2005 to 174 in fiscal year 2008, but
increased 23 work years from fiscal years 2008 to 2009 primarily due
to an increase in one office. The percentage of time OI investigators
spend on alien smuggling investigations, versus other investigative
areas, such as drugs, has remained steady during this time period at
16-17 percent.
Figure 1: OI Investigator Work Years Spent Addressing Alien Smuggling
on the Southwest Border (Fiscal Years 2005 through 2009):
[Refer to PDF for image: vertical bar graph]
Fiscal year: 2005;
Work years: 190.
Fiscal year: 2006;
Work years: 169.
Fiscal year: 2007;
Work years: 174.
Fiscal year: 2008;
Work years: 174.
Fiscal year: 2009;
Work years: 197.
Source: GAO analysis of OI TECS data.
[End of figure]
DHS's Human Capital Accountability Plan states that DHS is committed
to ensuring that human capital resources are aligned with mission
accomplishments and are deployed efficiently and effectively. However,
in some cases OI investigators are conducting immigration-related
activities that are not consistent with OI's primary mission of
conducting criminal investigations. Officials from two of the four SAC
offices we visited told us that OI has been tasked to respond to calls
from state and local law enforcement agencies to transport and process
apprehended aliens who may be subject to removal, which diverts OI
resources from conducting alien smuggling and other investigations.
For example, according to officials in one SAC office, the equivalent
of two full-time investigators each week spent their time responding
to non-investigation-related calls during fiscal year 2009. In 2006,
in the Phoenix metropolitan area, ICE's DRO developed the Law
Enforcement Agency Response (LEAR) program, in which DRO took over
responsibility from OI for transporting and processing apprehended
aliens. DRO processed 3,776 aliens from October 1, 2008, to May 24,
2009, who otherwise OI would have had to process, thus enabling OI
agents to spend more time on investigations. DRO headquarters
officials stated that they have discussed expanding the LEAR program
beyond Phoenix but have yet to conduct an evaluation to identify the
best locations for expanding the program. By studying the feasibility
of expanding the LEAR program, and expanding the program if feasible,
ICE would be in a better position to help ensure that its resources
are more efficiently directed toward alien smuggling and other
priority investigations. Therefore, in our May 2010 report, we
recommended ICE take such action. ICE concurred with our
recommendation and stated that as a first step in potentially
expanding the program nationwide, DRO's Criminal Alien Division
prepared and submitted a resource allocation plan proposal for its
fiscal year 2012 budget.
Alien Smuggling Asset Seizures Have Decreased since 2005;
Opportunities Exist to Leverage Additional Financial Investigative and
Seizure Techniques:
The value of OI alien smuggling asset seizures has decreased since
fiscal year 2005, and two promising opportunities exist that could be
applied to target and seize the monetary assets of smuggling
organizations. According to OI data, the value of alien smuggling
seizures nationwide increased from about $11.2 million in fiscal year
2005 to about $17.4 million in fiscal year 2007, but declined to $12.1
million in fiscal year 2008 and to about $7.6 million in fiscal year
2009.
Table 1: OI Alien Smuggling Assets Seized in Fiscal Years 2005 through
2009 Nationwide:
Dollars in thousands:
Fiscal year: 2005;
Value of currency seized: $4,197;
Value of vehicles seized: $3,433;
Value of vessels (e.g., boats) seized: $2,427;
Value of real estate seized: $691;
Total value of currency, vehicles, and real estate seized: $10,748;
Value of all assets seized: $11,212;
Value of currency, vehicle, vessel and real estate seized as a
percentage of total assets seized: 96%.
Fiscal year: 2006;
Value of currency seized: $3,720;
Value of vehicles seized: $3,710;
Value of vessels (e.g., boats) seized: $2,055;
Value of real estate seized: $4,034;
Total value of currency, vehicles, and real estate seized: $13,519;
Value of all assets seized: $14,220;
Value of currency, vehicle, vessel and real estate seized as a
percentage of total assets seized: 95%.
Fiscal year: 2007;
Value of currency seized: $3,432;
Value of vehicles seized: $5,957;
Value of vessels (e.g., boats) seized: $4,118;
Value of real estate seized: $3,433;
Total value of currency, vehicles, and real estate seized: $16,940;
Value of all assets seized: $17,396;
Value of currency, vehicle, vessel and real estate seized as a
percentage of total assets seized: 97%.
Fiscal year: 2008;
Value of currency seized: $1,836;
Value of vehicles seized: $5,275;
Value of vessels (e.g., boats) seized: $3,618;
Value of real estate seized: $818;
Total value of currency, vehicles, and real estate seized: $11,547;
Value of all assets seized: $12,169;
Value of currency, vehicle, vessel and real estate seized as a
percentage of total assets seized: 95%.
Fiscal year: 2009;
Value of currency seized: $1,679;
Value of vehicles seized: $3,280;
Value of vessels (e.g., boats) seized: $2,013;
Value of real estate seized: $140;
Total value of currency, vehicles, and real estate seized: $7,112;
Value of all assets seized: $7,613;
Value of currency, vehicle, vessel and real estate seized as a
percentage of total assets seized: 93%.
Source: GAO analysis of OI data.
Note: Values have been adjusted to account for inflation.
[End of table]
One opportunity to leverage additional seizure techniques involves
civil asset forfeiture authority, which allows federal authorities to
seize property used to facilitate a crime without first having to
convict the property owner of a crime. OI investigators indicated that
lack of such authority makes it difficult to seize real estate
involved in alien smuggling activity. In 2005, we recommended that the
Attorney General, in collaboration with the Secretary of Homeland
Security, consider submitting to Congress a legislative proposal, with
appropriate justification, for amending the civil forfeiture authority
for alien smuggling. Justice prepared such a proposal and it was
incorporated into several larger bills addressing immigration
enforcement or reform since 2005, but none of these bills had been
enacted into law as of July 2010. According to Justice officials, the
current administration has not yet taken a position on civil asset
forfeiture authority for alien smuggling cases. We continue to believe
it is important for Justice to seek the civil asset forfeiture
authority it has identified as necessary to seize property used to
facilitate alien smuggling. Thus, in our May 2010 report, we
recommended that the Attorney General assess whether amending the
civil asset forfeiture authority remains necessary, and if so, develop
and submit to Congress a legislative proposal. Justice concurred with
this recommendation.
A second opportunity involves assessing the financial investigative
techniques used by an Arizona Attorney General task force. The task
force seized millions of dollars and disrupted alien smuggling
operations by following cash transactions flowing through money
transmitters that serve as the primary method of payment to those
individuals responsible for smuggling aliens. By analyzing money
transmitter transaction data, task force investigators identified
suspected alien smugglers and those money transmitter businesses that
were complicit in laundering alien smuggling proceeds. ICE officials
stated that a fuller examination of Arizona's financial investigative
techniques and their potential to be used at the federal level would
be useful. An overall assessment of whether and how these techniques
may be applied in the context of disrupting alien smuggling could help
ensure that ICE is not missing opportunities to take additional
actions and leverage resources to support the common goal of
countering alien smuggling. In our May 2010 report, we recommended
that ICE conduct an assessment of the Arizona Attorney General's
financial investigations strategy to identify any promising
investigative techniques for federal use. ICE concurred with our
recommendation and stated that the week of April 12, 2010, ICE
participated in the inaugural meeting of the Southwest Border Anti-
Money Laundering Alliance, a body consisting of federal, state, and
local law enforcement agencies along the southwest border. The main
purpose of the meeting was to synchronize enforcement priorities and
investigative techniques. However, while these are positive steps
toward combating money laundering along the southwest border, it is
not clear to what extent these actions will result in ICE evaluating
the use of the Arizona Attorney General's financial investigative
techniques.
OI and CBP Could Do More to Better Measure Progress toward Achieving
Alien Smuggling-Related Program Objectives:
OI and CBP have not fully evaluated progress toward achieving alien
smuggling-related program objectives. Federal standards for internal
control call for agencies to establish performance measures and
indicators in order to evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts.
One of the major objectives of OI's alien smuggling investigations is
to seize smugglers' assets, but OI does not have performance measures
for asset seizures related to alien smuggling cases. Tracking the use
of asset seizures in alien smuggling investigations as a performance
measure could help OI monitor its progress toward its goal of denying
smuggling organizations the profit from criminal acts. Thus, in our
May 2010 report, we recommended that ICE develop performance measures
for asset seizures related to alien smuggling investigations. ICE
concurred with the recommendation and stated that ICE is in the
process of assessing all of its performance measures and creating a
performance plan.
In addition, ICE operates the Mexican Interior Repatriation Program
(MIRP), which removes aliens apprehended during the hot and dangerous
summer months to the interior of Mexico to deter them from reentering
the United States and to reduce loss of life. However, ICE does not
know the effectiveness of MIRP at disrupting alien smuggling
operations or saving lives because ICE lacks performance measures for
the program. Thus, in our May 2010 report, we recommended that ICE
develop performance measures for MIRP. ICE did not agree with this
recommendation because it believed that performance measures for this
program would not be appropriate. According to ICE, any attempt to
implement performance measures for MIRP to emphasize the number of
Mexican nationals returned or the cost-effectiveness of the program
would shift its focus away from the program's original lifesaving
intent and diminish and possibly endanger cooperation with the
government of Mexico. However, we believe that performance measures
would be consistent with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed
by the United States and Mexico related to MIRP which calls for
evaluation by appropriate officials. Thus, we believe that measuring
MIRP's program performance would be consistent with the MOU's intent.
CBP operates several programs that address alien smuggling, such as
the Operation Against Smugglers Initiative on Safety and Security
program (OASISS) in which suspected alien smugglers apprehended in the
United States are prosecuted by Mexican authorities. In addition,
CBP's Operation Streamline prosecutes aliens for illegally entering
the United States in order to deter them from reentering the United
States. Lack of accurate and consistent performance data has limited
CBP's ability to evaluate its alien smuggling-related programs. CBP is
in preliminary discussions to establish systematic program
evaluations, but has not established a plan, with time frames, for
their completion. Standard practices in project management for
defining, designing, and executing programs include developing a
program plan to establish an order for executing specific projects
needed to obtain defined results within a specified time
frame.[Footnote 2] Developing a plan with time frames could help CBP
ensure that the necessary mechanisms are put in place so that it can
conduct the desired program evaluations. Therefore, in our May 2010
report, we recommended that the Commissioner of CBP establish a plan,
including performance measures, with time frames, for evaluating CBP's
alien smuggling-related enforcement programs. CBP concurred with our
recommendation and stated that it is developing a plan that will
include program mission statements, goals, objectives, and performance
measures. CBP stated that it also has begun gathering data and holding
workshops on developing performance measures for some of it programs.
However it is not clear to what extent these actions will include time
frames for evaluating CBP's enforcement efforts.
This concludes my prepared testimony. I would be pleased to respond to
any questions that members of the subcommittee may have.
Contacts and Acknowledgments:
For further information regarding this testimony, please contact
Richard M. Stana at (202) 512-8777 or stanar@gao.gov. In addition,
contact points for our Offices of Congressional relations and Public
Affairs may be found on the last page of this statement. Individuals
who made key contributions to this testimony are Assistant Director
Michael P. Dino, Ben Atwater, Bintou Njie, and Katherine Davis.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] GAO, Alien Smuggling: DHS Needs to Better Leverage Investigative
Resources and Measure Program Performance along the Southwest Border,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-328] (Washington, D.C.:
May 24, 2010).
[2] The Project Management Institute, The Standard for Program
Management (2006).
[End of section]
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