New Audit Says Border Inspectors Not Given Enough Resources

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July 25, 2006 10:10 AM

U.S. border inspectors are spending too much time looking at false positives on individuals who may share the name or a similar name to suspected terrorists, and they lack the resources to do other tasks, according to an internal audit by the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General's office.

The audit, to be released today, looks at problems in how the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency handles its traditional law enforcement responsibilities along with its increased efforts to intercept potential terrorists at airports and other ports of entry. 

"CBP officers told us on numerous occasions that repeat matches on subsequent trips of individuals previously not determined to be the individual in [the terrorism screening database] was an extremely inefficient use of their time," says the IG report.

"Traditional missions such as narcotics interdiction and identification of fraudulent immigration documents have been adversely affected," the review finds.

The report notes that some CBP officers do not have the proper security clearances to participate in interviews or view necessary information of certain watch-listed individuals that they may encounter.

"CBP procedures are highly prescriptive and withhold from supervisors the authority to make timely and informed decisions regarding the admissibility of individuals who they could quickly confirm are not the suspected terrorists," the review noted.

The report notes that this and other restrictions in data and reporting of that data is hindering CBP from developing useful intelligence assessments.

"CBP works continually to ensure that legitimate persons – the vast majority of travelers – are not unnecessarily delayed while diligently working to ensure we scrutinize everyone of concern," said CBP spokesman Bill Anthony in response to the review.

Last year Customs officers denied entry of 16,425 criminal aliens attempting to enter the U.S. at air, land and sea ports, and intercepted over 75,000 fraudulent documents last year, according to Anthony.

"CBP is pleased that the Inspector General's report acknowledges improvements CBP has made and continues to make as CBP continues its work with other law enforcement entities, including the FBI and ICE, as part of our anti-terrorism role," Anthony said.

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Joe Lieberman (D-CT) said in a statement, "The DHS Inspector General's latest report tells us that CBP has failed to provide its workers with the support they need to stop suspected terrorists from crossing our ports of entry. CBP supervisors lack the authority to make swift and informed decisions about foreign nationals while others lack the security clearances needed to review information about individuals on terrorist watch lists."