DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

Office of Inspector General 

Letter Report: 

Immigration Enforcement Agent Position 

 

 

 

 

 

Office of Inspector General 

Office of Inspector General 

U.S. Department of Homeland

Security

OIG-05-24 June 2005 

Office of Inspections and Special Reviews
 Office of Inspector General 

 

 U.S. Department of Homeland Security

 Washington, DC 20528

June 10, 2005 

MEMORANDUM TO: Randy Beardsworth 

Acting Under Secretary 

Border and Transportation Security 

 

FROM: Richard L. Skinner

 Acting Inspector General

 

SUBJECT: Immigration Enforcement Agent Position

In the course of conducting a review of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responsibilities 

regarding juvenile aliens, we became aware of an organizational anomaly between Immigration 

and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Some ICE 

Immigration Enforcement Agents (IEAs), primarily along the Southwest border of the United 

States, almost exclusively perform alien transportation operations for and report to CBP Border 

Patrol supervisors. 

IEA Organizational Anomaly between ICE and CBP

Under the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), Detention Enforcement 

Officers (DEOs) performed transportation duties at Border Patrol stations and reported to Border 

Patrol supervisors. When DHS was established, these INS operations were reorganized. The 

Border Patrol moved into CBP, while enforcement operations, including DEOs, moved into ICE. 

However, some DEOs, now called Immigration Enforcement Agents (IEAs), did not relocate to 

ICE, but remained with the Border Patrol and continued to perform their legacy transportation 

duties. They also continued to report to Border Patrol supervisors. The IEAs were never 

formally detailed nor reassigned to the Border Patrol. 

ICE continues to pay federal salaries and benefits for these IEAs; however, ICE DRO does not 

provide daily supervision, handle employee-relations issues, or handle adverse actions for IEAs 

reporting to Border Patrol supervisors. At the same time, Border Patrol supervisors lack the 

authority to handle employee-relations issues or discipline IEAs who report to them.

1

 This has 

resulted in problems for both the IEAs involved and the Border Patrol supervisors to whom they 

report. 

Transportation Responsibilities

Transporting apprehended aliens is a necessary function. Apprehended aliens must be 

transported from the point of apprehension to the processing facility. Also, after processing, 

 1

 The Border Patrol and ICE also have different disciplinary schedules. 
aliens must be transported from the processing facility to either the border for voluntary return or 

departure or to a detention facility pending immigration proceedings. In a July 20, 2004, 

memorandum, the Under Secretary for BTS determined that both ICE and CBP share alien 

transportation duties.2

 According to the memorandum, ICE IEAs will provide transportation 

from ports of entry to detention facilities, and ICE will continue to supply IEAs to the Border 

Patrol to assist with transporting aliens. According to the memorandum, CBP and the Border 

Patrol are to provide transportation support at the levels that existed at the time. Interviews 

during our fieldwork suggest that a clear and permanent assignment of transportation duties is 

required. 

Neither ICE DRO nor CBP claims these transportation duties as theirs. CBP maintains that its 

job is to apprehend aliens at ports of entry or along the border area and that it needs ICE drivers 

to transport the apprehended aliens from the processing facility back to the border or to a 

detention facility. ICE DRO wants to use the IEAs for IEA duties, maintaining that their job is 

detention and removal of aliens under final orders of removal, not transportation from the 

processing facility to the border or a detention facility. 

 

IEA Duties

The IEA position was created when the former INS DEO position was reclassified and combined 

with the former INS Immigration Agent (Enforcement) position. In order to transition to a fullperformance IEA, DEOs must receive immigration law training. When the transition training is 

complete, the IEA career ladder starts at a GS-5 or GS-7 entry level, depending on the level of 

experience, and ends at the GS-9 level. 

According to the position description, full-performance IEAs are required to spend 25 to 75 

percent of their time performing two major duties: detention and deportation/transport/escort. 

Detention duties include responsibilities such as detainee care, processing, supervision, and 

transportation for prison pick-ups and medical or court appointments. Deportation/transport/ 

escort duties include responsibilities associated with processing and transporting or escorting 

aliens under final orders of removal to their country of citizenship. In addition to the two major 

duties, IEAs are required to perform one of five other duties for at least 25 percent of their time 

as assigned by their supervisor. These duties include jail check and Institutional Removal 

Program (IRP); prosecution; determining alienage and fugitive operations; operational support, 

Border Patrol Criminal Alien Program (BORCAP), or law enforcement liaison; and Alien 

Criminal Apprehension Program (ACAP), law enforcement agency support, multi-agency task 

forces, quick response teams, or duty officer. 

IEAs assigned to transportation operations with the Border Patrol may not have an opportunity to 

develop experience in the areas above, may not meet the basic requirements of their position 

description, and may be at a substantial competitive disadvantage when seeking promotion 

opportunities at the Supervisory IEA or Deportation Officer positions. 

 

2

 Asa Hutchinson, “Costs Associated with the Care and Custody of Aliens,” Memorandum to Robert C. Bonner, 

Commissioner of CBP, and Michael J. Garcia, Assistant Secretary for ICE, July 20, 2004. 
Summary

IEAs who currently report to Border Patrol supervisors need a corrected reporting chain to ICE, 

or in the alternative, need to be detailed or reassigned to CBP. We also urge you to clarify the 

organizational assignment of transportation responsibilities and the expected range of duties of 

IEAs. 

We hope our observations will be of assistance as you move forward. Should you have any 

questions or concerns or if we may be of further assistance, please call me or your staff may 

contact Robert L. Ashbaugh, Assistant Inspector General for Inspections and Special Reviews, at 

(202) 254-4100. We expect to provide our draft report on DHS responsibilities for juvenile 

aliens later this month for your review. 
Additional Information and Copies 

To obtain additional copies of this report, call the Office of Inspector General 

(OIG) at (202) 254-4100, fax your request to (202) 254-4285, or visit the OIG 

web site at www.dhs.gov.

OIG Hotline 

To report alleged fraud, waste, abuse or mismanagement, or any other kind 

of criminal or noncriminal misconduct relative to department programs or 

operations, call the OIG Hotline at 1-800-323-8603; write to DHS Office of 

Inspector General/MAIL STOP 2600, Attention: Office of Investigations – 

Hotline, 245 Murray Drive, SW, Building 410, Washington, DC 20528; fax 

the complaint to (202) 254-4292; or email DHSOIGHOTLINE@dhs.gov. The 

OIG seeks to protect the identity of each writer and caller.