Federal Watchdog Outlines Raft of Problems With Immigration Enforcement

The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General has found issues with immigration enforcement systems.

A person from Ukraine (L) holds their passport in Tijuana, Mexico, while waiting near a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer before being allowed to cross the San Ysidro Port of Entry into the United States, on March 22, 2022. Mario Tama/Getty Images

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is failing to enforce immigration laws, the agency’s inspector general said in three new reports.

Hundreds of individuals discovered to be illegally in the United States at an international airport were released due to a lack of bed space at local facilities or insufficient funds for immigration officers to detain them at the airport, according to one of the documents.