U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement identification of criminal aliens in federal and state custody eligible for removal from the United States

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Criminal Alien Program is responsible for identifying criminal aliens incarcerated in federal, state, and local prisons and jails who are eligible for removal from the United States. The objective of our audit was to determine whether the Criminal Alien Program is identifying all criminal aliens incarcerated in federal and state custody who are eligible for removal. We reviewed a sample of foreign-born inmates released in fiscal year 2009 from federal facilities nationwide and from state facilities in California, Florida, New York, and Texas. The Criminal Alien Program was successful in screening and identifying 99% of the criminal aliens eligible for removal from the United States in federal custody during fiscal year 2009. However, identification rates in two of the four states reviewed were not as high. Specifically, the Criminal Alien Program did not identify approximately 4% of removable criminal aliens in California and 2% in Texas. Many of the released criminal aliens had been convicted of serious offenses such as assault, firearms possession, and distribution of narcotics. We attribute the non-identification to Criminal Alien Program agent staffing challenges and increasing workload levels. We also determined that the Criminal Alien Program did not always record and retain critical information and documentation for its screening and identification activities. As a result, the Criminal Alien Program was unable to demonstrate that some foreign-born inmates were screened, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement's management does not have the ability to identify Criminal Alien Program performance gaps.