Fed Agencies Released Noncitizens Without ID Into US, Allowed Them to Board Domestic Flights: DHS OIG Report

In a new, heavily redacted report, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) found that several federal agencies did not fully assess risks associated with releasing noncitizens without identification into the U.S. and allowing them to travel on domestic flights.

Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari said in the report that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) failed to ensure that high-risk noncitzens without ID are not entering the country and boarding domestic flights.

The IG said that according to federal law, “noncitizens without ID are not admissible into the country and “shall be detained,” but that CBP and ICE are permitted to release noncitizens into the U.S. based on various circumstances.

The report notes that CBP and ICE accept self-reported biographical information, which they use to give migrants immigration forms. The migrants are then able to get on domestic flights, even if they do not have identification.

The inspector general said he asked DHS for data on the number of noncitizens who did not have identification and were released into the U.S. between fiscal years 2021-23, but CBP and ICE were unable to provide the information because they did not log into their system whether or not noncitizens had identification.

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The IG’s report goes on to say they identified “similar weaknesses” in CBP’s screening processes, which allowed “high-risk individuals into the country.”

One of the high-risk individuals who was released into the U.S. was done so while on the FBI Terror Watchlist in 2022. There were also two Afghans paroled into the U.S. as part of Operation Allies Welcome, who have posed a threat to national security, the report notes.

“If CBP and ICE continue to allow noncitizens – whose identities immigration officers cannot confirm – to enter the country, they may inadvertently increase national security risks,” the report concluded.

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