Immigration Detention: ICE Should Enhance Its Use of Facility Oversight Data and Management of Detainee Complaints
Fast Facts
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is the lead agency responsible for providing safe, secure, and humane confinement in immigration detention facilities.
ICE and other DHS agencies oversee compliance with facility standards and receive complaints from detainees. We examined this oversight and what ICE does with oversight inspection data and information from complaints.
ICE doesn't comprehensively analyze inspection or complaint information to identify trends. It also doesn't have reasonable assurance that all complaints are addressed.
Our 6 recommendations to ICE are on conducting regular analysis, recording resolutions of complaints, and more.
Detainees at some ICE facilities can use a grievance box to lodge complaints.
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other DHS entities use, in part, inspections to oversee detention facilities and address identified deficiencies. As shown below, in fiscal year 2019, most of ICE's 179 facilities that housed adults for over 72 hours underwent inspections by contractors or its Office of Detention Oversight, while smaller facilities conducted self-assessments. ICE also conducted onsite monitoring at facilities. Further, two DHS offices conducted inspections related to certain aspects of facilities. ICE collects the results of its various inspections, such as deficiencies they identify, but does not comprehensively analyze them to identify trends or record all inspection results in a format conducive to such analyses. By ensuring inspection results are recorded in a format conducive to analysis and regularly conducting comprehensive analyses of results, ICE would be better positioned to identify and address potential trends in deficiencies.
Detention Facility Oversight by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Entities at 179 Facilities, Fiscal Year 2019
ICE and DHS entities have various mechanisms for receiving and addressing detention-related complaints from detainees and others. However, while some of these entities conduct some analyses of the complaint data they maintain, ICE does not regularly analyze detention-related complaint data across all of its relevant offices. By regularly conducting such analyses, ICE could identify and address potential trends in complaints. Additionally, ICE does not have reasonable assurance that Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) field offices—which oversee and manage detention facilities—address and record outcomes of detention-related complaints referred to them for resolution, or do so in a timely manner. For example, GAO's analysis of data from one referring office—the Administrative Inquiry Unit—indicated that for certain noncriminal complaints the unit refers, ERO field offices did not provide resolutions back to the unit for 99 percent of referrals. Without requiring that ERO field offices record any actions taken on, and the resolutions of, detention-related complaints, ICE does not have reasonable assurance that field offices are addressing them.
Why GAO Did This Study
ICE is the lead agency responsible for providing safe, secure, and humane confinement for detained foreign nationals in the United States. ICE has established standards for immigration detention related to complaint processes, medical care, and other areas.
The joint explanatory statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, includes a provision for GAO to review ICE's management and oversight of detention facilities and detention-related complaints. This report examines ICE and other DHS entities' mechanisms for (1) overseeing compliance with immigration detention facility standards and how ICE uses oversight information to address any identified deficiencies; and (2) receiving and addressing detainee complaints, and how ICE uses complaint information. GAO analyzed documentation and data on inspections and complaints at facilities that held detainees for over 72 hours during the last 3 fiscal years—2017 through 2019; visited 10 facilities selected based on inspection results and other factors; and interviewed officials.
Recommendations
GAO is making six recommendations, including that ICE ensures oversight data are recorded in a format conducive to analysis, regularly conducts trend analyses of oversight data and detention-related complaint data, and requires that ERO field offices record the resolutions of detention-related complaints. DHS concurred.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement | The Director of ICE should direct Custody Management to regularly conduct analyses of contracted facility inspections oversight data over time, within and across facilities and regions, and in a manner to enable trends in inspection deficiencies to be identified and addressed. (Recommendation 1) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation. In May 2024, Custody Management Division officials told us that ICE had discontinued contracted inspections because it had expanded inspections performed by its Office of Detention Oversight (ODO). Specifically, the joint explanatory statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, directed ICE to increase the frequency of ODO inspections from once every 3 years to twice per year. In October 2022, we reported that ICE had increased the frequency of ODO inspections to biannually. In June 2024, the Custody Management Division provided analyses it had performed of ODO inspection results data. For example, these analyses examined trends in deficiencies across detention facilities over the last 6 months. According to ICE officials, the Custody Management Division will conduct trend analyses of ODO inspections data quarterly. Given that ODO facility inspections have taken the place of contracted facility inspections, these actions meet the intent of our recommendation. Specifically, these analyses should better position ICE to identify and address potential trends in deficiencies, and thereby improve detention conditions.
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| United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement | The Director of ICE should direct the Office of Detention Oversight and Custody Management to take steps to ensure that data on deficiencies identified through Office of Detention Oversight's inspections are recorded in a format that is accessible to Custody Management for analysis purposes. (Recommendation 2) |
In April 2023, ICE officials said that Custody Management and the Office of Detention Oversight (ODO) had developed a method to upload ODO inspections results data into a new data system that ICE was in the process of implementing for Custody Management. By October 2023, ICE had finished implementing this capability such that ODO inspection results are uploaded into the new data system through an automated process. The inspection results information includes data such as when and where the inspection was performed, the particulars of any deficiencies the inspection identified, and whether prior inspections identified similar deficiencies. Having these data in the new data system should help ensure Custody Management can conduct more comprehensive analysis of ODO inspection results. As such, we consider this recommendation implemented.
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| United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement | The Director of ICE should regularly conduct analyses of data on deficiencies identified through Office of Detention Oversight's inspections. (Recommendation 3) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation. As of October 2023, ICE had implemented a method to upload Office of Detention Oversight (ODO) inspections results data into a new Custody Management Division data system through an automated process. In June 2024, the Custody Management Division provided analyses it had performed of these ODO inspection results data. For example, these analyses examined trends in deficiencies across detention facilities over the last 6 months. According to ICE officials, the Custody Management Division will conduct trend analyses of ODO inspections data quarterly. Conducting these analyses should better position ICE to identify and address potential trends in deficiencies, and thereby improve detention conditions. As such, we consider this recommendation implemented.
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| United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement | The Director of ICE should ensure that all Operational Review Self-Assessment results and corrective actions are recorded in a format that is conducive to tracking and analysis. (Recommendation 4) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation. As of April 2023, ICE reported that the agency was in the process of implementing a new data system in which it planned to maintain data on Operational Review Self-Assessment results and corrective actions. ICE reported in March 2024 that it had completed this effort, and in September 2024, ICE provided documentation of the data it maintained in the new data system and analyses of the data. For each self-assessment, the system tracks information including any deficiencies it identified, planned corrective actions to address the deficiencies, projected completion dates for the actions, and actual completion dates. ICE's analyses demonstrated that it can examine self-assessment results in various ways including by the category of deficiency (e.g. medical care) and over time. Maintaining and analyzing data on Operational Review Self-Assessment results and corrective actions should enable ICE to be aware of any trends in deficiencies and help ensure that corrective actions are taken. As such, we consider this recommendation implemented.
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| United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement | The Director of ICE should regularly conduct analyses of detention-related complaint data from relevant offices, including analyses of data over time, within and across facilities and regions, and at a level necessary to identify and address potentially reoccurring complaints. (Recommendation 5) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation. As of May 2023, ICE reported that the agency was in the process of integrating several data systems that stored detention-related information into a new system. The new system was to provide enhanced analysis capabilities, including the ability to produce reports with analysis of detention-related complaint data. ICE reported that the new system became operational in September 2023, and over the next several months, ICE added detention-related complaint data from several sources to the system. These sources included telephone hotlines, such as the Detention Reporting and Information Line; complaints received through online submission; and complaints received by various DHS and ICE offices. In June 2024, ICE reported that it had finished implementing the system and provided analyses it had performed of detention-related complaint data stored in the system. These analyses included data from various sources, including complaints made to the Detention Reporting and Information Line and ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility, among others. The analyses examined complaint data by topic of concern, over various time periods, and across regions and detention facilities. According to ICE officials, the agency plans to conduct analyses of detention-related data on a recurring and ad-hoc basis. Conducting these analyses should provide ICE with information that can strengthen its ability to manage and oversee conditions of confinement in its detention facilities. As such, we consider this recommendation implemented.
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| United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement | The Director of ICE should require that ERO field offices record any actions taken on, and the resolutions of, detention-related complaints referred to them from the Detention Reporting and Information Line and Administrative Inquiry Unit in a timely manner. (Recommendation 6) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation. In regard to detention-related complaints the Detention Reporting and Information Line (DRIL) refers to ERO field offices, ICE implemented a new data system for DRIL complaints in August 2023. ERO field office officials are to enter any actions taken on, and resolutions of, complaints from DRIL directly into the new system. According to ICE documentation and officials from the ERO Contract Center of Operations (ECCO), the office that manages DRIL, the new system includes features that help ensure ERO field offices record the disposition of DRIL complaints. For example, the system enables ECCO officials to monitor field offices' progress addressing complaint referrals and sends automated reminders to the responsible field office official if a case remains open. According to ECCO officials, field offices have been recording the resolutions of most DRIL complaints in the new system timely. These officials said that when there have been delays, ECCO officials have contacted field office leadership and the complaints were resolved shortly thereafter. These steps help provide assurance that ERO field offices are addressing DRIL complaints referred to them in a timely manner. In regard to detention-related complaints the Administrative Inquiry Unit (AIU) refers to ERO field offices, ICE reported in April 2024 that it was developing guidance on how ERO field offices are to address a subset of the complaints, called management reviews. According to ICE, the new guidance will require ERO field offices to provide AIU with a written disposition for these complaints. The detention-related complaints AIU refers to ERO field offices also include a subset of complaints called management inquiries. In our review, we found ERO field offices were not submitting resolutions to these inquiries to AIU timely. In April 2024, ICE officials said AIU had made programmatic improvements that resulted in more timely submissions of management inquiries. If ICE provides documentation demonstrating more timely submission of management inquiries and finalizes its guidance for management reviews, as planned, its actions will meet the intent of our recommendation.
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