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Financial Management: Additional Steps Needed to Improve ICE's Budget Projections and Execution

GAO-24-106550 Published: May 15, 2024. Publicly Released: May 15, 2024.
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Fast Facts

In recent years, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has frequently relied on additional funding beyond its annual appropriations to enforce immigration laws and combat transnational crime. That funding often totaled hundreds of millions of dollars per year.

ICE uses budget models to estimate its resource needs and is required to periodically review these models. However, ICE doesn't do so—so it can't be sure that its budget models are accurately projecting its resource needs.

We made 9 recommendations, including that ICE regularly review its budget models.

Illustration showing an American flag and a piece of paper with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) logo and name on it.

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Highlights

What GAO Found

From fiscal years 2014 through 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notified Congress that it planned to move a total of $1.8 billion within existing DHS appropriations to help U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) meet its mission. DHS indicated that it would move this funding to ICE from other DHS agencies as well as within ICE, from some programs to others. ICE also received $365 million in supplemental appropriations from fiscal years 2016 through 2023, according to its congressional budget justification submissions.

Planned Movement of Funds within ICE and to ICE from Other DHS Components

Planned Movement of Funds within ICE and to ICE from Other DHS Components

Note: This figure does not include supplemental appropriations.

ICE uses several budget models to project its resource needs, but ICE and DHS have not assessed the quality of those models in accordance with their policies. Ensuring DHS and ICE follow their policies for reviewing those models would provide greater assurance of the models' quality.

ICE has opportunities to better align its budget execution—how it spends its appropriations—with agency policies. For example, ICE's program offices have not always updated their spend plans—documents that forecast the agency's planned obligations for the fiscal year—as required by ICE policy. Clarifying ICE's policy on updating spend plans and ensuring that ICE program offices follow ICE's policy would improve not only the quality of information available to ICE for budget execution but also consistency with the policy.

ICE officials brief congressional staff on ICE's budget execution, but the documents ICE provides at these briefings have not always included complete and current information. For example, the documents did not always reflect the potential need for additional funding even when ICE officials were aware of that need. Providing more timely notice in the briefing documents of the need for additional funding would give Congress more complete information to inform appropriations decisions.

Why GAO Did This Study

In recent years, ICE has frequently relied on additional funding beyond its annual appropriations to meet its mission of enforcing immigration laws and combatting transnational crime. That funding often totaled hundreds of millions of dollars per year from supplemental appropriations and from funds transferred from other agencies within DHS.

The Joint Explanatory Statement for the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, includes a provision for GAO to review ICE's financial management practices. This report examines (1) how much funding beyond its annual appropriations ICE projected it would need to meet its mission, (2) the extent to which ICE's projections of its resource needs are consistent with applicable policies and requirements, and (3) the extent to which ICE's budget execution is consistent with applicable policies and requirements. GAO reviewed ICE and DHS budget documents and data, and interviewed ICE and DHS officials.

Recommendations

GAO is making nine recommendations, including that ICE and DHS ensure they review budget models according to their policies, clarify ICE's policy on updating spend plans and ensure that the policy is followed, and include additional information in documents provided to Congress. DHS concurred with all nine recommendations and outlined plans for the department and ICE to address them.

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should ensure that ICE's Program Analysis and Evaluation division periodically assesses ICE's budget models. (Recommendation 1)
Open
DHS concurred with this recommendation and stated that ICE will standardize and document its process for reviewing its budget models. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Homeland Security The Secretary of DHS should ensure that DHS reviews ICE's budget models in accordance with its policies. (Recommendation 2)
Open
DHS concurred with this recommendation and stated that it will review all of ICE's budget models by 2026. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should ensure that OBPP verifies that ICE program offices follow ICE's policy to have spend plans in place at the beginning of the fiscal year. (Recommendation 3)
Open
DHS concurred with this recommendation and stated that ICE will develop a process to ensure ICE program offices have spend plans in place at the beginning of each fiscal year. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should clarify ICE's policies and guidance on spend plan updates to specify under what conditions program office spend plans should be updated. (Recommendation 4)
Open
DHS concurred with this recommendation and stated that ICE is updating its guidance to clarify when program offices should update their spend plans. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should ensure that OBPP verifies that ICE program offices follow ICE's policy on updating spend plans. (Recommendation 5)
Open
DHS concurred with this recommendation and stated that ICE will document responsibilities and timelines for reviewing and approving spend plans. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should ensure that OBBP verifies that the ICE-wide and program office spend plans are updated to be consistent with each other. (Recommendation 6)
Open
DHS concurred with this recommendation and stated that ICE will update its guidance to document the criteria for updating and approving spend plans. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should implement changes to the PER briefing documents to include information that communicates to Congress potential reprogramming and transfers as the need for them becomes apparent to ICE. (Recommendation 7)
Open
DHS concurred with this recommendation and stated that ICE is working with Congress to change how it presents information in its briefing documents. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should implement changes to the PER briefing documents to include ICE's initial budget projections in addition to updated projections. (Recommendation 8)
Open
DHS concurred with this recommendation and stated that ICE is working with Congress to change how it presents information in its briefing documents. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The Director of ICE should develop and document a plan to address OBPP's staffing challenges and obtain ICE leadership's endorsement of the plan. The plan could include the following elements: (1) strategies for acquiring and retaining staff, (2) OBPP's goals for improving its staffing, and (3) a description of how OBPP will track progress toward those goals. (Recommendation 9)
Open
DHS concurred with this recommendation and stated that ICE is working to address staffing challenges in the Office of Budget and Program Performance. For example, DHS said that ICE is working to identify the root causes of attrition and identify strategies to address staffing challenges. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

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Topics

Budget appropriationsBudget executionBudgetsFinancial managementHomeland securityHuman capital managementImmigrationCustoms enforcementSupplemental appropriationsImmigrants