Southwest Border: Actions Needed to Address Fragmentation in DHS's Processes for Apprehended Family Members
Released: 2020-03-18T00:00:00

Letter

Background

Key Terms and Definitions

There are various statutes, regulations, and agency policies that set forth how DHS components are to make decisions about, or process, the family members they encounter. For the purposes of this report, we use the following key terms and definitions.

Family. Federal immigration law does not specifically define the term “family” for the purposes of identifying family relationships that are to be documented at apprehension. DHS components and other federal agencies use the term “family” for individuals with a variety of relationships such as step-, half-, foster, or adoptive family members. Some family relationships, including parent-child, may be claimed upon apprehension, but CBP may determine that the relationship is invalid. For example, CBP may determine that (1) those claiming a familial relationship are not related or (2) their relationship does not meet the relevant component or agency’s operational definition of family. For the purposes of this report, “family” refers generally to noncitizens with claimed familial relationships.

Unaccompanied alien child (UAC). The Homeland Security Act of 2002 defines a UAC as a child under the age of 18, who has no lawful immigration status in the United States and who has no parent or legal guardian present in the United States, or if present, no parent or legal guardian available to provide care and physical custody for that child.

Family unit. Federal immigration law does not specifically define the term “family unit.” However, CBP and ICE policy and guidance documents generally define a family unit as the inverse of a UAC. In other words, a family unit includes a noncitizen child under the age of 18, who has no lawful immigration status in the United States, accompanied by a noncitizen parent or legal guardian who is able to provide care and physical custody. For the purposes of this report, “family unit” refers to this specific subset of family, as previously defined.

Dependent. For a number of immigration benefit applications, including asylum, a spouse or child may be included as dependents on a principal’s application and derive lawful immigration status from the principal applicant if the applicant is granted relief. Similarly, consistent with regulation, USCIS policy is to include a spouse or child in a principal applicant’s positive credible fear determination if they arrived concurrently and the spouse or child wants to be included. In this context, “child” is generally defined in federal immigration law as an unmarried biological or legally adopted child under age 21. For the purposes of this report, we refer to principal applicants’ spouses and unmarried children under age 21 as “dependents.”

Federal Agencies’ Roles and Responsibilities

Family members who are apprehended together may encounter multiple federal agencies and components during their immigration proceedings, including DHS components, HHS’s ORR, and the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), as shown in figure 1.

CBP documents the circumstances of noncitizens’ apprehension. After Border Patrol agents or OFO officers apprehend noncitizens, including families, they are to interview each individual, using interpreters if needed, and collect personal information such as their names, countries of nationality, and age. Agents and officers also collect biometric information, such as photographs and fingerprints, from certain individuals. Border Patrol agents and OFO officers use fingerprints to run records checks against federal government databases to determine if individuals have any previous immigration or criminal history. Agents and officers are to enter information about the individuals in the appropriate automated data system as soon as possible, in accordance with CBP policy. Border Patrol agents and OFO officers print copies of the information they enter into their data systems to create a paper file, known as an “A-file,” for each noncitizen they apprehend. One of the key required DHS forms in the A-file is Form I-213, Record of Deportable/ Inadmissible Alien. Among other things, this form captures biographic information and includes a narrative section for agents and officers to document the circumstances of the apprehension.

According to CBP policy, Border Patrol agents and OFO officers are to determine the validity of family relationships among individuals they apprehend. To do so, for example, they are to review any available documentation, such as birth certificates; monitor interactions between adults and children; and use their law enforcement training, such as interview skills, to help assess the validity of family relationships. After making decisions about the validity of familial relationships, agents and officers are to decide whether and how family members will be detained together while in CBP custody. According to CBP’s 2015 National Standards on Transport, Escort, Detention, and Search, CBP “will maintain family unity to the greatest extent operationally feasible, absent a legal requirement or articulable safety or security concern that requires separation.”

According to CBP officials, if individuals are determined to be ineligible for admission into the United States, agents and officers must decide how to process them, which may include placing them into full or expedited immigration removal proceedings, consistent with the Immigration and Nationality Act. In full removal proceedings, individuals have the opportunity to present evidence to an immigration judge to challenge their removal from the United States and apply for various forms of relief or protection, including asylum. In expedited removal proceedings, the government can order individuals removed from the United States without further hearings before an immigration judge unless they indicate an intention to apply for asylum, a fear of persecution or torture, or a fear of return to their home country. Most arriving noncitizens are eligible to be placed into expedited removal proceedings, with certain exceptions, according to Border Patrol and OFO officials. Individuals placed in expedited removal proceedings and who express a fear of persecution or torture are generally subject to mandatory detention under the Immigration and Nationality Act pending a final determination of credible fear of persecution. Regarding family units, in particular, Border Patrol and OFO officials stated that Border Patrol agents and OFO officers typically determine whether ICE has available detention space in one of its family residential centers before placing family units into expedited removal proceedings.

ICE and ORR detain or shelter noncitizens and share information about UAC. ICE, among other things, is responsible for detaining and removing noncitizens, including families, who are in the United States in violation of U.S. immigration law and subject to removal. ICE officers are to determine whether to detain, release, or remove such individuals based on a variety of factors, including statutory requirements, medical considerations, and the availability of detention space. ICE detains adults over age 18 in detention facilities that are segregated by gender. For family units placed in expedited removal, ICE officers have the authority to accept or deny a CBP referral for detention in one of ICE’s family residential centers—a decision that ICE officials stated is largely dependent upon available detention space. As of October 2019, ICE operated three family residential centers, with different population characteristics in each center:

South Texas Family Residential Center (Dilley, TX), which has a maximum capacity of 2,400 beds for female adults and their male or female children.

Karnes County Residential Center (Karnes, TX), which has a maximum capacity of 830 beds for male adults and their male children.

Berks County Residential Center (Leesport, PA), which has a maximum capacity of 96 beds for male or female adults and their male or female children.

When an individual is transferred from CBP to ICE custody, ICE officers are to enter information about that person in ICE’s data system. The paper A-file is also transferred from CBP to ICE and, according to ICE officials, ICE officers generally review the A-file upon transfer to ensure that it is sufficiently complete. ICE’s data system automatically pulls some information, such as basic biographic information, from CBP’s data systems. ICE officers are to enter new information into ICE’s data system, such as the location(s) where officers detained or released the individual and the documents officers served to the individual, among other things.

If CBP or ICE officials determine that a child or children under the age of 18 and without lawful status in the United States arrived in the country without an accompanying parent or legal guardian, the child is classified as a UAC and is to be transferred to ORR custody. Additionally, if DHS determines that a child should be separated from their accompanying parent or parents, DHS then considers the child to be a UAC and transfers him or her to the custody of ORR. ORR provides interim care for UAC at its shelters and identifies qualified sponsors in the United States to take custody of the child while the child waits for his or her full immigration proceedings. CBP’s data systems can share some information about UAC automatically with ORR, including biographic information such as name, date of birth, and alien number; and information about related UAC, such as siblings, who were apprehended together.

To assess the suitability of potential sponsors, ORR staff collects information from potential sponsors, which may include parents or other family members, to establish and identify their relationship to the child. For example, ORR screening of potential sponsors includes various background checks. According to ORR officials, they are required to attempt to contact a child’s parent, regardless of the parent’s location, any time they place a child with a sponsor. According to ORR officials, ORR is also responsible for coordinating reunification of separated family units if DHS and HHS determine it is appropriate, or if the adult is later determined by a federal court to be a class member in the ongoing Ms. L v. ICE litigation, related to family separations. ORR officials said that they rely on ICE to gather additional information, such as detailed information from an adult or UAC’s Form I-213, when that information is not available or shared at the time a UAC is transferred to ORR custody.

USCIS and EOIR consider claims of relief from removal from the United States. USCIS screens individuals in expedited removal—most of whom are in ICE detention facilities—for credible fear if they indicate an intention to apply for asylum, a fear of persecution or torture, or a fear of returning to their home country. In this screening, an asylum officer is to review certain documentation from CBP and ICE; perform background checks using various automated databases; interview the individual to obtain more details on his or her fear claim, overall credibility, and the nature of any relationships with family members with whom he or she was apprehended; and determine whether there are any dependents who could potentially be included in the individual’s fear determination. The regulation governing the credible fear process allows dependents— specifically a spouse or unmarried child under the age of 21—of a principal applicant to be included in the applicant’s credible fear determination, if the dependent (1) arrived in the United States concurrently with the principal applicant and (2) desires to be included in the principal applicant’s determination.

For cases in which USCIS concludes the screening with a positive determination, USCIS is to issue a Notice to Appear, thereby placing the individual into full removal proceedings before an immigration judge. Consistent with regulation, if a principal applicant receives a positive credible fear determination, it is USCIS policy that his or her dependents may be included in the positive determination—and be placed into full removal proceedings—if the dependent arrived concurrently with the principal applicant and wants to be included in the principal’s credible fear determination. For cases in which the asylum officer concludes the screening with a negative determination, USCIS is to refer the individual to ICE for removal from the United States, unless he or she requests a review of the negative determination by an immigration judge. Those in full removal proceedings who apply for asylum before an immigration judge may include a spouse and/or unmarried children under age 21 in their asylum application. If the judge grants asylum to the principal applicant, his or her dependents may also be granted asylum.

Our Work on Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication of Federal Programs

In 2010, Public Law 111-139 included a provision for us to identify and report annually on programs, agencies, offices, and initiatives—either within departments or government-wide—with duplicative goals and activities. In our annual reports to Congress from 2011 through 2019 in fulfillment of this provision, we described areas in which we found evidence of fragmentation, overlap, and duplication among federal programs, including those managed by DHS. To supplement these reports, we developed a guide to identify options to reduce or better manage the negative effects of fragmentation, overlap, and duplication, and evaluate the potential trade-offs and unintended consequences of these options. In this report, we use the following definitions:

Fragmentation occurs when more than one agency (or more than one organization within an agency) is involved in the same broad area of national interest and opportunities exist to improve service delivery.

Overlap occurs when multiple programs have similar goals, engage in similar activities or strategies to achieve those goals, or target similar beneficiaries. Overlap may result from statutory or other limitations beyond the agency’s control.

Duplication occurs when two or more agencies or programs are engaged in the same activities or provide the same services to the same beneficiaries.

DHS’s Processes to Identify, Collect, Document, and Share Information about Apprehended Family Members Are Fragmented

DHS Has Not Identified the Information about Family Members Apprehended at the Border That Its Components Collectively Need

DHS has not identified the information about family members apprehended together that its components collectively need or communicated that information to relevant components across the department. Based on our analysis of agency documentation and interviews with agency officials, we determined that CBP, USCIS, and ICE require different information about family members who are apprehended together and each component collects such information that is relevant to its respective operational needs. Specifically, CBP, as the apprehending agency at the border, needs information about family members apprehended together for the purposes of, among other things, informing how family members are to be detained while in CBP custody. In addition, USCIS needs information on family members to identify individuals who may be eligible dependents for credible fear screening purposes. ICE needs information on family members to assist USCIS in identifying eligible dependents and to assist ORR in identifying individuals who may be eligible sponsors for UAC based on their family relationship.

While each DHS component has identified the information needed to meet its own specific requirements regarding family members, DHS has not identified information needs regarding family members across its components, resulting in a lack of shared understanding of all components’ needs and fragmented information collection. For example, the information that CBP collects about family members is not aligned with the information that other components, or agencies that might subsequently encounter these family members, need to identify eligible dependents for credible fear purposes or suitable sponsors for UAC.

CBP. Regarding family units, CBP (including Border Patrol and OFO) generally collects information about members of family units—including parents and their children under age 18—who are apprehended together. CBP components assign a unique identifier to a family unit that allows members’ records to be linked. CBP components use the information they collect about members of family units to inform how they are to be detained while in CBP custody and to determine how their immigration proceedings are to proceed. In addition, CBP may collect information about certain other relationships among family members apprehended together because CBP and its components—Border Patrol and OFO— have policies that allow certain family members who are not defined as family units to be detained together while in CBP custody. For example, with regard to Border Patrol, family groups composed exclusively of children under the age of 18—such as siblings or a parent under age 18 and his or her child—may be held together in CBP custody, according to Border Patrol guidance. As another example, family members who Border Patrol or OFO agents or officers determine need to be detained together, such as a parent and their child over age 18 with significant medical needs, may also be held together in CBP custody.

Border Patrol and OFO have developed processes to collect information about the relationships between family members who are to be detained together, including Border Patrol assigning them a “family group” number in Border Patrol’s data system and OFO documenting the relationship between a juvenile accompanied by a non-parent family member, to facilitate their detention together while in CBP custody. However, CBP generally does not collect information about certain family members— such as spouses or children age 18 to 21—because CBP does not have a need to collect such information if, for example, those family members will not be detained together. Other components may require this information, as described below.

USCIS. USCIS requires information about family members for credible fear screening and asylum eligibility purposes, consistent with immigration law. Based on our analysis of agency documentation and interviews with agency officials, this differs from the information that CBP collects about family members for its operational purposes. Specifically, spouses and unmarried children under age 21 may be included in their spouse or parent’s credible fear screening if the family members arrived in the United States together. At the credible fear screening interview, USCIS is to document the name, country of nationality, and alien number, if known, for the spouse and name, date of birth, country of nationality, and alien number, if known, for the child or children of all individuals being screened for credible fear.

In addition, consistent with regulation, it is USCIS policy to include any dependents who arrived concurrently with the principal applicant, such as a spouse or unmarried child under the age 21, on a principal applicant’s positive credible fear determination if the dependent wants to be included. This results in both the principal applicant and any dependents being issued a Notice to Appear for full removal proceedings. In addition, USCIS’s training on screening families for credible fear states that families do not need to be detained together to be included in a positive determination.

In other words, a principal applicant in a credible fear screening may be detained at one of ICE’s family residential centers and his or her dependent spouse or child between the ages of 18 and 21 may be detained separately at an adult detention facility. Specifically, since ICE’s adult detention facilities are segregated by gender, a female might be detained in a separate adult detention facility from her male spouse. If a parent or spouse receives a positive credible fear screening, his or her dependent’s case could be linked and both family members could receive a notice to appear in immigration court for full immigration proceedings.

According to USCIS headquarters officials, USCIS relies on information obtained during the credible fear screening interview to identify family members because the information that USCIS receives from CBP about the circumstances of an apprehension generally does not include details about spouses or children age 18-21. Further, USCIS officials said that family members over age 18 who are apprehended together may be detained in separate ICE facilities and referred to USCIS for fear screenings at different times, which makes it difficult for USCIS and ICE to locate such family members. In addition, USCIS officials said that ICE is often not aware of the family relationship between family members if they are detained separately. Specifically, although ICE is responsible for detaining noncitizens who express fear of returning to their home country before they are screened for such fear by USCIS, ICE officials responsible for detention management told us that (1) they are often not aware of family relationships between family members detained separately and (2) they treat anyone over age 18 as an adult and do not consider that a child age 18 to 21 or a spouse could be a dependent on a credible fear claim.

ICE. In addition to assisting USCIS in identifying eligible dependents for credible fear screening purposes, ICE assists ORR in identifying qualified sponsors for UAC. According to ORR, qualified sponsors include, among others, and in order of preference: parent or legal guardian; an immediate relative who previously served as a primary caretaker of the child; an immediate relative who did not previously serve as a primary caretaker of the child; and other distant relatives or unrelated adults with a pre- established relationship with the child. When a child apprehended by CBP is classified as a UAC and transferred to ORR’s custody, CBP is to provide ORR with information about family members with whom the UAC was apprehended. However, officials from ORR told us that they sometimes receive UAC referrals—either through an automated system or via email—from CBP with no information about family members with whom the child was apprehended, but subsequently learn from the child that the child was apprehended with a family member.

According to ICE and ORR officials, when ORR has questions about potential sponsors for a child in their care, they coordinate with officials from ICE’s juvenile and family management program to obtain additional information about the circumstances of the child’s apprehension or family members with whom a child was traveling. ICE officials stated that CBP generally provides the information on family members traveling with UAC to ORR, if CBP is aware of such information; however, according to ICE officials, children may not share all relevant details about their family members with CBP agents and officers when they are apprehended, and they may be more comfortable sharing such details once they are in ORR custody. ICE officials said that they can search their data systems, including law enforcement records, for information about the circumstances of a child’s apprehension, which ORR uses when evaluating potential sponsors for the child. ORR cannot access such law enforcement records. For example, ICE can use Border Patrol’s “event” unique identifier to search for information about adults who Border Patrol apprehended at the same time as a child, and can use this information to attempt to identify if there are family relationships between an adult and unaccompanied child. ORR officials said that the lack of family member information they receive from CBP or ICE, or delays in receiving such information, can delay the release of a child from a shelter to a qualified sponsor.

Our previous work on collaboration has shown that establishing compatible policies, procedures, and other means to operate across agency boundaries can enhance and sustain collaborative efforts and help ensure that fragmented efforts are being managed effectively. Further, leading practices of high-performing organizations include fostering collaboration both within and across organizational boundaries to achieve results. Moreover, federal programs contributing to the same or similar results should collaborate to ensure that program efforts are mutually reinforcing, and should clarify roles and responsibilities for their joint and individual efforts. Our interviews and analysis indicate that the information each DHS component collects about family members meets its own information needs, but does not consider the information needs of other components that might encounter those family members. Officials from CBP and ICE confirmed that they collect information about family members to meet their own operational needs. For example, CBP may not collect information about spouses apprehended together because CBP does not need such information for its operational purposes. Further, Border Patrol and OFO officials we spoke with told us that CBP components collect all relevant information needed for their operational purposes but that CBP is not responsible for collecting information that USCIS needs to identify eligible dependents, including spouses and children age 18 to 21. Without identifying and communicating department- wide information needs with respect to family members who have been apprehended together, DHS does not have reasonable assurance that its components are identifying all individuals who may be eligible for relief from removal from the United States based on their family relationships or that ICE can provide ORR with the information it needs to help evaluate the suitability of potential sponsors for UAC.

CBP Does Not Routinely Collect and Document Sufficient Information on Apprehended Family Members to Assist Other Agencies’ Decision- making

CBP’s Border Patrol and OFO document the circumstances under which family members are apprehended at or between U.S. ports of entry and, as a result, are in the best position to collect information about their family relationships. However, our analysis of DHS documentation and interviews with officials indicate that CBP does not routinely collect all of the information about family members that is needed to (1) identify eligible dependents as part of the credible fear screening process and (2) evaluate family members for sponsorship placement for UAC. Further, Border Patrol agents and OFO officers do not routinely document that information on the record of apprehension.

CBP’s Border Patrol agents and OFO officers are to document the circumstances of an apprehension using the required Form I-213, Record of Deportable/ Inadmissible Alien (record of apprehension). The record of apprehension is a key form in the paper A-file and is the official record of an apprehension. Among other things, the record of apprehension captures biographic information about the apprehended individual and includes a narrative section for agents and officers to document details about the circumstances of the apprehension. Border Patrol and OFO’s guidance indicates that the record of apprehension may be used as evidence in immigration or criminal courts and that omissions or mistakes on the form may have negative consequences. According to Border Patrol officials, the information captured on the record of apprehension varies and there is no requirement that it include information about family members apprehended together. However, USCIS, ICE, and ORR officials told us that they rely on the record of apprehension for such family information. As discussed below, since CBP does not routinely collect sufficient information about family members apprehended together or document such information on the record of apprehension, there are gaps in the information available to other DHS components about family members apprehended together.

Information to identify eligible dependents as part of the credible fear screening process. CBP does not routinely collect sufficient information about relationships between family members apprehended together for USCIS and ICE to later identify if such individuals are eligible dependents as part of the credible fear screening process. As previously discussed, consistent with regulation, it is USCIS policy to include any dependents on a principal applicant’s positive credible fear determination if the dependents arrived concurrently with the principal applicant and want to be included on the principal applicant’s credible fear determination. However, CBP does not routinely collect information about relationships between all parents, children, and spouses apprehended together at the time of their apprehension or share that information with USCIS. Specifically, CBP does not require its agents and officers to collect information about or to document the relationships between certain family members apprehended together, such as spouses and children age 18 to 21. As a result, USCIS’s ability to identify eligible dependents is limited.

Asylum officers are to ask all individuals they screen for credible fear if they arrived in the United States with other family members. Asylum officers told us that, when CBP does not collect information about potentially eligible dependents—especially spouses and children age 18 to 21—they face challenges in identifying and locating such dependents. Asylum officers also told us that when CBP agents and officers do not collect and document information about relationships at the time family members are apprehended, asylum officers must rely on the information that the applicant provides in the credible fear screening interview, rather than using the screening interview to corroborate family information already collected by CBP at the time of the apprehension. In addition, a USCIS official told us that it can be beneficial for USCIS to have information about relationships between all parents, children, and spouses who are apprehended together for other processes—such as if one family member placed into expedited removal proceedings is subject to the reasonable fear process—because information in one family member’s claim can impact other family members’ ability to meet the threshold for a positive fear determination.

Border Patrol, OFO, and ICE officials stated that, due to the volume of apprehensions at the southwest border, Border Patrol and OFO collect information to meet CBP’s operational needs, but that the level of detail documented on the record of apprehension may vary. Specifically, according to one ICE official responsible for detention at a family residential center and an ICE headquarters official, information about family relationships, including that of spouses, is not consistently documented in the information ICE receives from CBP and shares with USCIS. Since USCIS does not receive consistent information about family members from CBP, USCIS officers must rely on the credible fear screening interview to identify potential eligible dependents.

When asylum officers identify eligible dependents during the credible fear screening interview, officers attempt to locate these dependents to link them to their parent’s or spouse’s case. However, according to USCIS and ICE officials, it can be difficult to locate such dependents if they are not detained together. Specifically, because CBP officers and agents do not routinely collect information about the relationships between spouses or parents and children age 18 to 21 or document such information on the record of apprehension at the time they are apprehended, USCIS and ICE do not have the information about those family relationships that they need to locate and identify eligible dependents. Additionally, individuals may not know certain information—such as the alien number of their spouse or child—that would help USCIS or ICE locate them. ICE officials told us that they assist USCIS officials in locating spouses and children age 18 to 21 for the purposes of making them dependents on a spouse or parent’s credible fear application on a case by case basis, but that tracking down such dependents can be difficult. Further, ICE and USCIS officials told us that because they do not have sufficient information about eligible dependents, it is possible that ICE could remove an eligible dependent from the United States while their spouse or parents’ credible fear claim was pending, or after their spouse or parent received a positive credible fear determination.

Information to assist ORR in making placement decisions for children transferred to its custody. CBP does not collect all information about family members at the time of apprehension that is needed to assist ORR in making placement decisions for UAC transferred to its custody, according to ICE and ORR headquarters officials. When CBP refers a child for placement at an ORR shelter, CBP is to share some information with ORR, including the name, age, and alien number of the child, as well as information about any family members with whom the child was apprehended. ORR officials stated they use this information to assist in making placement decisions for the child. However, ORR officials stated that the information CBP provides when the child is referred may not include information about family members with whom the child was apprehended. Further, according to ORR officials, they do not typically receive the child’s Form I-213—which documents the circumstances of the child’s apprehension—from CBP. ORR officials said that they sometimes receive UAC referrals from CBP without any information about other family members and they may subsequently learn from the child that he or she was apprehended with a family member.

Additionally, if ORR officials have questions about a child in their custody, officials from ICE’s Juvenile and Family Residential Management Unit told us that they are the liaison between DHS and ORR. ICE officials told us that the level of detail that CBP agents and officers collect for UAC apprehended with family members varies. According to an ICE official in ICE’s Juvenile and Family Residential Management Unit, the more information that CBP agents and officers provide about the circumstances of a child’s apprehension, the better equipped ICE is to answer ORR’s questions about familial relationships and potential suitable sponsors for a particular child, as well as to investigate potentially fraudulent familial relationships or circumstances in which an adult apprehended with a child might not be a suitable sponsor. According to ORR officials, they also rely on ICE to provide information about the suitability of reunifying a parent and child where ORR determines that a UAC was separated from their parent or legal guardian with whom they arrived.

As we reported in February 2020, DHS and HHS have developed interagency agreements for the transfer and placement of UAC between the two departments; however, information sharing gaps remain. Specifically, ORR headquarters officials stated that they have experienced delays in releasing a child to a sponsor due to missing information about a parent or the inability to notify a parent in ICE detention about sponsorship decisions. We recommended that DHS and HHS should collaborate to address information sharing gaps to ensure that ORR receives information needed to make decisions for UAC, including those apprehended with an adult. DHS and HHS concurred with the recommendations.

Border Patrol and OFO developed their own requirements for what information they collect, if any, about family members apprehended together based on their operational needs. However, because CBP agents and officers collect information and document the circumstances of apprehensions when families first arrive in the United States, they are best positioned to identify those family members who were apprehended together and the relationships among them. Additionally, the information that CBP agents and officers collect may impact how family members are subsequently identified or processed by other federal agencies.

CBP officials said that their components collect limited information about family members apprehended together because they do not have an operational need for such information and because collecting it is time intensive in an environment where agents and officers are managing a large volume of apprehensions. However, because CBP does not routinely collect sufficient information about family relationships at the time of apprehension, or document that information on the record of apprehension, DHS components do not have information necessary to identify potentially eligible dependents for credible fear purposes and ICE does not have sufficient information to assist ORR in making suitable sponsorship determinations. Further, while we recognize that the collection of additional information on family members can be time intensive for CBP, as the apprehending agency, CBP is best positioned to collect and document information on family members apprehended together. In addition, ICE, USCIS, and ORR may expend resources themselves trying to identify family relationships for their own operational purposes.

As previously noted, our prior work on collaboration has shown that establishing compatible policies, procedures, and other means to operate across agency boundaries can enhance and sustain collaborative efforts and help ensure that fragmented efforts are being managed effectively. In October 2019, CBP officials acknowledged that it could be helpful to consider other agencies’ information needs when collecting information about apprehended families. Collecting information about the relationships between family members apprehended together and documenting that information on the Form I-213 could help address fragmentation among DHS components and improve the information available to other agencies, such as ORR, to ensure that relevant information is available to support decisions on individuals’ administrative immigration or other proceedings.

DHS Components’ Data Systems Have Fragmented Information about Family Members

DHS does not have a mechanism to link the records of family members apprehended together across its components. Specifically, CBP’s data systems can assign unique family identifiers to link records of certain family members together, as appropriate, upon apprehension. CBP uses these unique identifiers to facilitate the detention of family members together in CBP custody. They also provide a mechanism for CBP to search for and identify family members that share a unique identifier. However, those identifiers are not readily accessible and usable to USCIS and ICE, which also have operational needs to identify and review records of family members apprehended together. Further, USCIS and ICE’s data systems do not assign unique family identifiers. Because DHS’s data systems do not have shared family identifiers to link family members, DHS components may not have access to all the information about family members they need to make effective and efficient operational decisions.

CBP’s data systems assign unique family identifiers. Regarding family units, CBP components have guidance on how Border Patrol agents and OFO officers are to enter information on family units in their respective data systems. CBP’s data systems assign a unique identifier to each family unit and link their records, and agents and officers are to collect the following information about family units:

Border Patrol guidance indicates that agents are to process adult parents and their children under age 18 who are apprehended together as members of a family unit, and the data system assigns each family unit a unique family unit identifier. This identifier links the records of the family unit members together, and allows agents to search for family unit members using that number.

OFO is deploying a new data system and, as of October 2019, OFO officials said that they planned for the new system to be deployed along the southwest border on an ongoing basis as conditions allow. OFO documentation on the new system indicates, and OFO officials told us, that the new system will allow OFO officers to assign a unique family identifier to members of a family unit and will allow officers to document the familial relationship between members of family units.

Border Patrol’s data system can also assign a unique family group identifier to family members whom agents determine should be detained together for Border Patrol’s operational purposes. According to Border Patrol guidance and officials, family group numbers may be used to link family members during Border Patrol detention. Further, these numbers may be documented on the record of apprehension and may be shared with ORR to, for example, link the records of two related UAC when Border Patrol transfers them to ORR custody. However, Border Patrol agents have discretion to determine whether family members apprehended together are to be assigned a unique family group identifier, according to agency documentation and our interviews with agency officials. CBP components do not have a mechanism to share their unique family unit or family group identifiers with ICE or USCIS in a way that is readily accessible and usable.

CBP’s data systems share limited information on apprehended family members with ICE’s data system. When ICE receives custody of a family unit from CBP, ICE officers create a record for each family member in ICE’s data system. ICE’s data system pulls some information about each family member automatically from CBP’s data systems. For example, ICE officers can find basic biographic information about individual family members apprehended by Border Patrol by searching using the individual’s alien number, a DHS unique identifier assigned to individuals. In addition, ICE identified a need for more information to help identify family units in ICE custody and developed a mechanism to receive that information from CBP. As of August 2018, ICE’s data system displays a family unit “banner” in the data records of those noncitizens CBP processed as a member of a family unit. This banner flags for ICE officers that the individual was identified by CBP as a family unit member, and ICE’s data system displays the Border Patrol or OFO unique family unit identifier.

ICE’s family unit banner was a positive development and allows ICE to identify individuals in its custody that CBP processed as a member of a family unit. However, the family unit banner does not provide ICE all the information it needs to identify family members, according to ICE officials. Specifically, ICE can see that a particular individual was processed by CBP as a member of a family unit, but ICE cannot use the system to identify other members of that person’s family because ICE’s data system does not link or display alien numbers for individuals who share a family unit identifier. According to Border Patrol officials, because ICE and Border Patrol’s data systems are both housed within ICE’s Enforcement Integrated Database repository, ICE should have access to the family unit information collected by Border Patrol. However, ICE officials stated that ICE cannot use the information on family units that CBP’s data system shares with ICE’s data system to, for example, search for family unit members using Border Patrol’s unique family unit identifier. According to ICE officials, ICE officers must use a time consuming and manual process to research potential family associations or identify family unit members using the information CBP provides to ICE.

Further, ICE’s data system cannot link the records of family unit members in its custody, although these family unit members are generally detained together in one of ICE’s family residential centers. According to ICE guidance and ICE officials, ICE’s data system only displays family unit information as entered by CBP and such information is not available for individuals identified as members of a family unit after entering ICE custody. As of November 2019, ICE headquarters officials stated that they are working with the ICE data unit to create a new module that would enhance ICE’s ability to link and track family units in its data system, including expanding ICE’s use of existing family unit information as entered by CBP. According to ICE officials, ICE has established a project team for this effort and hopes to deploy the updates in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020. However, ICE did not provide any documentation on this effort, such as a project plan with time frames for deploying these system updates, to verify these plans.

Although ICE has taken steps to identify individuals in its custody that CBP documented as members of a family unit, ICE does not have a mechanism to link the records of family unit members together. In addition, ICE does not have a mechanism, such as a unique family group identifier, to link the records of other family members apprehended together. ICE needs information about these other family members to (1) assist USCIS in identifying eligible dependents for credible fear screening purposes and (2) assist ORR in identifying family members with whom a UAC was apprehended and assessing whether they might be suitable sponsors. According to ICE officials, ICE uses a manual process to identify family members apprehended together. Without a mechanism, such as a shared unique identifier, that ICE can use to access information CBP gathered about family members apprehended together, ICE cannot ensure that it has the information it needs to identify eligible dependents, or to answer ORR’s questions about UAC with the best available information. As of November 2019, ICE is enhancing its data system’s ability to link and track family unit members. However, it is too early to know if ICE’s planned system enhancements will include a mechanism that will allow ICE officers to identify family members apprehended together.

CBP and ICE’s data systems do not share information on apprehended and detained family members with USCIS’s data system. USCIS’s data system does not receive information about family members (parents, spouses, and children) from CBP or ICE in an automated manner. According to USCIS officials, because CBP’s and ICE’s data systems do not have a mechanism—such as a linked unique family identifier—to share information about potential dependents with USCIS’s data system automatically, the credible fear interview may be the only way for USCIS to determine that an individual being screened for credible fear was apprehended with other family members, especially if any members of the family are detained separately.

For family members detained separately, according to USCIS officials, USCIS asylum officers attempt to locate spouses and children age 18 to 21 when they are made aware of such family relationships as part of the credible fear screening process. However, due to limitations in data sharing between CBP, ICE, and USCIS, USCIS may not be able to locate such spouses and children age 18 to 21 in some circumstances. In particular, USCIS officials told us that, if the spouse or child did not make his or her own claim of credible fear while in CBP or ICE custody, USCIS asylum officers use a time consuming and manual process to attempt to identify family members apprehended together, using data that ICE makes available to USCIS. ICE officials told us that they assist USCIS officials in locating spouses and children age 18 to 21 for the purposes of making them dependents on a spouse or parent’s credible fear application on a case by case basis, but that tracking down such dependents can be difficult.

USCIS has developed a mechanism to link family members in its own data system, but this linkage is for USCIS’s purposes and is unrelated to the unique family unit or family group identifier assigned by CBP components at the time family members are apprehended or to the “family unit” banner that ICE’s data system displays for certain family units. Additionally, USCIS’s data system does not assign a unique identifier to family members whose cases are linked for credible fear screening purposes and USCIS does not have access to CBP’s family identifiers. A shared family member unique identifier could allow USCIS, CBP, and ICE access to more complete information about family members who were apprehended together and could give USCIS and ICE, in particular, greater assurance that they have complete information about family members apprehended together that they require for their operational needs.

Our previous work on collaboration has shown that identifying and addressing needs by leveraging resources, such as information technology resources, can enhance and sustain collaborative efforts, and help ensure that fragmented efforts are being managed effectively. Border Patrol, OFO, ICE, and USCIS data systems were developed to meet each component’s operational needs, leading to (1) data system integration limitations and (2) variation in the type of information that each component collects or requires. Components have implemented ways to share some information across their data systems—such as ICE’s “family unit” banner for members of family units processed by Border Patrol and USCIS’s ability to access some information in ICE’s data system to attempt to identify eligible dependents of individuals who have received a positive credible fear determination—but such information sharing is limited, and the components do not have a unique shared identifier to identify family members apprehended together. Moreover, DHS and its components have not considered options to share information on family members across components in an automated manner, as each component has been focused on its own operational needs for such information.

Evaluating options for developing a shared unique family member identifier across CBP, ICE, and USCIS that would allow each component access to certain information about family members apprehended together would help bridge the information gaps about family relationships between components caused by DHS’s fragmented data systems. Further, it would give DHS greater assurance that its components can identify family members who were apprehended together, even after they leave CBP custody. It would also mitigate the risk that, lacking such information, DHS could remove individuals from the United States who may have been eligible for relief based on their family relationship.

Conclusions

Although CBP’s apprehensions of family members have increased significantly in recent years, DHS has not taken steps to better manage fragmentation, including identifying, collecting, documenting, and sharing the information its components collectively need about family members apprehended together. The information each DHS component collects about family members apprehended together meets its own information needs. However, it does not consider the information needs of other components that might encounter those family members. Border Patrol and OFO officials we spoke with told us that CBP components collect all relevant information needed for their operational purposes but that CBP is not responsible for collecting information that USCIS needs to identify eligible dependents, including spouses and children age 18 to 21. Without identifying information needs with respect to family members who have been apprehended together—and without communicating that information department-wide to relevant components—DHS does not have reasonable assurance that its components are identifying all individuals who may be eligible for relief from removal from the United States based on their family relationships.

In addition, as the component that apprehends individuals arriving at the border, CBP is best positioned to document the circumstances of an apprehension, including by collecting and documenting information about family members who arrive in the United States together. Collecting information about the relationships between family members apprehended together and documenting that information on the Form I- 213, the record of apprehension, would improve management of fragmentation among DHS components and improve the information available to other agencies, such as ORR, to ensure that relevant information is available to support decisions on individuals’ administrative immigration or other proceedings.

Lastly, DHS components’ data systems were developed to meet each component’s operational needs, leading to data system integration limitations and variation in the type of information that each component collects or requires. Components have implemented ways to share some information across their data systems, but such information sharing is limited. Evaluating options for developing a shared unique family member identifier across CBP, ICE, and USCIS that would allow each component access to certain information about family members apprehended together would help bridge the information gaps about family relationships between components caused by DHS’s fragmented data systems.

Recommendations for Executive Action

We are making the following four recommendations to DHS: The Secretary of Homeland Security should identify the information about family members apprehended together that its components collectively need to process those family members and communicate that information to its components. (Recommendation 1)

The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that, at the time of apprehension, CBP collects the information that DHS components collectively need to process family members apprehended together. (Recommendation 2)

The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that CBP documents the information that DHS components collectively need to process family members apprehended together on the Form I-213. (Recommendation 3)

The Secretary of Homeland Security should evaluate options for developing a unique identifier shared across DHS components’ data systems to link family members apprehended together. (Recommendation 4)

Agency Comments

We provided a draft of this report to DHS and HHS for their review and comment. DHS provided formal, written comments, which are reproduced in full in appendix I. DHS and HHS also provided technical comments on our draft report, which we incorporated, as appropriate.

DHS concurred with our recommendations and described actions planned or underway to address them. For example, in response to our recommendation that DHS identify the information its components need about family members apprehended together, DHS stated that the DHS Office of Immigration Statistics within the DHS Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans will work with CBP, ICE, USCIS, and interagency partners to establish a comprehensive set of information to collect on family members apprehended at the border. Further, in response to our recommendations that DHS collect and document the information its components collectively need about family members apprehended at the border, DHS stated that after DHS identifies the information about families apprehended together that its components collectively need, CBP will work with DHS’s policy office to ensure all required information is collected at the time of apprehension on the Form I-213. In addition, Border Patrol and OFO will issue guidance to their agents and officers to ensure they document the information about family members apprehended together that DHS components collectively need. Regarding our recommendation that DHS evaluate options for developing a unique identifier shared across DHS components’ data systems to link family members apprehended together, DHS stated that its policy office will work with CBP, ICE, and USCIS to develop a unique shared identifier linking family members apprehended together.

As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce the contents of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days from the report date. At that time, we will send copies to the appropriate congressional committees, the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. In addition, this report is available at no charge on the GAO website at http://www.gao.gov.

If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact me at (202) 512-8777 or gamblerr@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this report. Key contributors to this report are listed in appendix II.

Appendix I: Comments from the Department of Homeland Security

Appendix II: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments

GAO Contact

Staff Acknowledgments

In addition to the contact named above, Kathryn Bernet (Assistant Director), Mary Pitts (Analyst in Charge), Carissa Bryant, Miranda Cohen, Michael Harmond, Stephanie Heiken, Leslie Sarapu, Jessica Walker, Dominick Dale, Eric Hauswirth, Jan Montgomery, Heidi Nielson, and Michele Fejfar made key contributions to this work.