A recent Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General report revealed that the Biden administration’s department “needs to improve its screening and vetting of asylum seekers and noncitizens applying for admission into the United States.”
The June 7 report released the audit results of the DHS’ vetting procedures for illegal immigrants released into the interior of the country.
‘Varied and sometimes inconsistent inspection procedure.’
“We conducted this audit to determine the effectiveness of DHS’ technology, procedures, and coordination to screen and vet asylum seekers and noncitizens,” the report read.
The audit found that the DHS’ procedures “were not fully effective to screen and vet noncitizens applying for admission into the United States or asylum seekers whose asylum applications were pending for an extended period.”
It noted that Customs and Border Protection cannot “access all Federal data necessary to enable complete screening and vetting” of illegal aliens. The report also revealed that CBP lacks the technology to conduct biometric matching at land ports of entry and has implemented “varied and sometimes inconsistent inspection procedures.”
During its investigation, the inspector general’s office found that at three land ports of entry, Border Patrol officers “did not query all vehicle occupants in Simplified Arrival to identify criminal warrants, national security concerns, or border crossing history before admitting them into the country.” According to the officers, management “frequently directed” them to “query only drivers to expedite processing,” the report said.
Additionally, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services failed to conduct “timely screenings of more than 400,000 affirmative asylum applicants who filed for asylum between October 2017 and March 2023.”
The department has also not implemented a “dedicated procedure or comprehensive technology solution to perform interim screening of asylum applicants whose cases were not adjudicated within the required 180-day timeframe,” the report stated. As a result, USCIS may not identify illegal aliens “with derogatory information” who are already residing in the U.S.
The inspector general report offered five recommendations, concluding that the DHS must address the outlined issues or it “will remain at risk of admitting dangerous persons into the country or enabling asylum seekers who may pose significant threats to public safety and national security to continue to reside in the United States.”
The DHS responded to the report, stating that it plans to implement an “automated biometric entry and exit system” for CBP’s use. The department concurred with all of the inspector general’s recommendations to improve vetting procedures.
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