Lost guns, backlogged asylum-seekers among homeland insecurities

The issues show how steep the challenges are for Kirstjen Nielsen, who faces a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security has vulnerabilities in administration and oversight that could leave the agency open to fraud and pose threats to national security and public safety, according to a series of reports issued in recent weeks by the department’s inspector general.

The problems range from miscommunication on immigration to oversight failures at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a skyrocketing backlog of asylum applications that could present a “significant risk to national security and public safety,” the inspector general found.

The issues show how steep the challenges are for President Trump’s pick to lead the agency, Kirstjen Nielsen, who faces a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday.

The 15-year-old agency, created to help keep Americans safe after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, has a broad mission guarding the nation’s ports, borders and airports and overseeing federal disaster response and recovery.

Here are some of the vulnerabilities identified by the DHS inspector general:

Asylum backlog

A backlog of asylum applications jumped from roughly 57,000 in 2014 to more than 250,000 this year.

Immigrants in the USA can seek asylum by filing an application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which reviews them and sets up fingerprinting, background checks and interviews before asylum can be granted.

The inspector general did not indicate where in the process the backlogged applications are, but his office told USA TODAY that USCIS officials indicated the requests had received only initial, preliminary vetting.

USCIS officials have identified fraud trends in the program.

“Individuals may file for affirmative asylum, anticipating a prolonged waiting period, as a means of exploiting the application process to obtain an Employment Authorization Document,” the inspector general said.

Immigration miscommunication

DHS does not foster enough coordination between its offices responsible for immigration administration and enforcement, which has led to miscommunication and breakdowns, the inspector general found.

The inspector general identified issues with bed space availability, inmate transfer responsibility, language services and processing of undocumented immigrants because of different decisions made by Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Hundreds of guns, badges lost

From 2014 to 2016, DHS personnel lost thousands of sensitive assets, including guns, badges and secure immigration stamps, the inspector general found. A total of 228 guns and nearly 1,900 badges went missing during the two-year period.

The inspector general cited instances when two off-duty ICE officers left guns in backpacks while on a beach in Puerto Rico, and another left his gun and badge unsecured in a hotel room while on vacation. All were stolen.

In three cases, the inspector general found, weapons fell into the hands of convicted felons.