Homeland Security: INS Cannot Locate Many Aliens Because It Lacks
Reliable Address Information (21-NOV-02, GAO-03-188).
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the
federal government's need to locate aliens in the United States
was considerably heightened. Without reliable alien address
information, the government is impeded in its ability to find
aliens who represent a national security threat or who could help
with the nation's anti-terrorism efforts. Requesters from both
the Senate and House asked GAO to review the reliability of INS's
alien address information and identify the ways it could be
improved.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-03-188
ACCNO: A05546
TITLE: Homeland Security: INS Cannot Locate Many Aliens Because
It Lacks Reliable Address Information
DATE: 11/21/2002
SUBJECT: Aliens
Counterterrorism
Data collection
Data integrity
Information resources management
Law enforcement
National defense operations
Records management
Reporting requirements
National preparedness
Immigrants
INS Nonimmigrant Information System
INS Computer Linked Application
Information Management System
INS Deportable Alien Control System
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GAO-03-188
Report to Congressional Requesters
United States General Accounting Office
GAO
November 2002 HOMELAND SECURITY
INS Cannot Locate Many Aliens Because It Lacks Reliable Address
Information
GAO- 03- 188
Why GAO Did This Study
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the federal
government*s need to locate aliens in the United States was considerably
heightened. Without reliable alien address information, the government is
impeded in its ability to find aliens who represent a national security
threat or who could help with the nation*s anti- terrorism efforts.
Requesters from both the Senate and House asked GAO to review the
reliability of INS*s alien address information and identify the ways it
could be improved.
November 2002
HOMELAND SECURITY
INS Cannot Locate Many Aliens Because It Lacks Reliable Address
Information
The full report, including GAO's objectives, scope, methodology, and
analysis is available at www. gao. gov/ cgi- bin/ getrpt? GAO- 03- 188.
For additional information about the report, contact Richard M. Stana at
(202) 512- 8777.
Highlights of GAO- 03- 188, a report to the Honorable Strom Thurmond,
United States Senate, and George W. Gekas, Chairman, Subcommitee on
Immigration, Border Security, and Claims, Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives
What GAO Recommends
GAO recommendations to the Attorney General include instructing the
Commissioner of INS to do the following:
Publicize the change of address notification requirement.
Establish procedures and controls to ensure that alien address information
in all automated databases is complete, consistent, accurate, and current.
Establish procedures and controls that permit INS to enforce the penalty
provisions for noncompliance with the change of address notification
requirement.
Evaluate alternative approaches and their costs for obtaining or
assembling complete alien address information.
United States General Accounting Office
What GAO Found
Recent events have shown that INS*s alien address information could not be
fully relied on to locate many aliens who were of interest to the United
States. For example, the Department of Justice sought to locate and
interview 4,112 aliens who were believed to be in the country and who
might have knowledge that would assist the nation in its anti- terrorism
efforts. However, as shown below, almost half of these aliens could not be
located and interviewed because INS lacked reliable address information.
The reliability of INS*s alien address information is contingent, in part,
on aliens* compliance with the requirement that they notify INS of any
change of address. However, lack of publicity about the requirement that
aliens should file change of address notifications, no enforcement of
penalties for noncompliance, and inadequate processing procedures for
changes of address also contribute to INS*s alien address information
being unreliable. Because INS does not publicize the change of address
requirement, some aliens may not be aware of it and may not comply with
it. Alternatively, some aliens who are aware of the requirement may not
comply because they do not wish to be located. These aliens have little
incentive to comply given that INS does not enforce the penalties for
noncompliance. On the basis of our review of available data, INS does not
appear to have enforced the removal penalty for noncompliance since the
early 1970s. When aliens do comply with the requirement, INS lacks
adequate processing procedures and controls to ensure that the alien
address information it receives is recorded in all automated databases.
Addressing these problems should help improve the reliability of INS*s
alien address information but would not necessarily result in a system
that would allow INS to reliably locate all aliens, because some aliens
will not likely comply. INS has recognized the need to increase the
reliability of its alien address information and is taking some steps to
improve it.
DOJ Sought to Locate and Interview 4,112 Aliens
55% of aliens were located and interviewed
2,261 1,851 45% of aliens could not be located
and interviewed Source: GAO*s analysis of the Executive Office for U. S.
Attorneys* interview project data as of March 20, 2002.
G A O Accountability Integrity Reliability
Highlights
Page i GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security Letter 1
Results in Brief 2 Background 4 Congress Provided the Framework for INS to
Locate Aliens 8 INS*s Alien Address Records Are Not Reliable 12 Lack of
Publicity, No Enforcement of Penalties, and Inadequate
Processing Procedures Contribute to INS*s Unreliable Address Information
16 INS*s Actions to Improve Alien Address Reliability 23 Conclusions 24
Recommendations for Executive Action 25 Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
26
Appendix I Scope and Methodology 29
Appendix II An Historical Overview of INS*s Alien Registration Programs,
1940- 1981 31
The Alien Registration Program of 1940 31 The Alien Address Report Program
of 1950 32 Alien Registration Programs Shared Common Program Elements 34
Appendix III Comments from the Department of Justice 42
Appendix IV GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments 46 Contacts 46
Acknowledgments 46
Tables
Table 1: Examples of Requests for Alien Registration Data INS Approved and
Their Intended Use 38 Table 2: Examples of Requests for Alien Registration
Data INS
Denied and Their Intended Use 38 Table 3: Examples of Requests for Alien
Address Report Program
Data INS Approved and the Intended Uses 39 Contents
Page ii GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security Figures
Figure 1: INS*s Form AR- 11 Is Available in Six Languages 6 Figure 2:
Requirements and Penalties for Registration and Address
Reporting from June 28, 1940 to June 28, 2002 10 Figure 3: INS*s Alien
Address Report Provided for Collecting
Aliens* SSNs 15 Figure 4: INS*s Processing of the Form AR- 11 20 Figure 5:
INS*s Processing of Other Change of Address Forms 21 Figure 6: Number of
Aliens Who Reported During the Alien
Address Report Program, 1951- 1980 33 Figure 7: The Post Office Department
Cancelled Stamps with a
Reminder That Aliens Must Report Their Addresses 35 Figure 8: INS*s 1953
Sign Placed in Post Offices Instructing Aliens
to Report Their Addresses 36
Abbreviations
CLAIMS 3 Computer Linked application Information Management System DACS
Deportable Alien Control System DOJ Department of Justice FBI Federal
Bureau of Investigation INS Immigration and Naturalization Service NIIS
Nonimmigrant Information System SSN Social Security number
Page 1 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
November 21, 2002 The Honorable Strom Thurmond United States Senate
The Honorable George W. Gekas Chairman, Subcommittee on Immigration,
Border Security, and Claims Committee on the Judiciary House of
Representatives
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the federal
government*s need to locate aliens who represented a national security
threat or who could help with the nation*s anti- terrorism efforts was
considerably heightened. 1 The Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS) is the federal agency that is responsible for maintaining address
information for aliens who are in the United States and was called upon to
help by providing current addresses for aliens who were being sought by
the Department of Justice (DOJ). However, efforts to locate these aliens
were impeded by INS*s lack of current address information.
Because of growing concern over the government*s need to locate aliens,
you asked us to determine what was impeding INS from using its alien
address information to reliably locate aliens in the United States. This
report discusses (1) the statutory framework that requires aliens to
report their addresses and any address changes, (2) the reliability of
INS*s alien address records to locate aliens who were sought by DOJ, and
(3) the principal factors affecting the reliability of INS*s alien address
records. You further asked for historical background information on prior
alien registration requirements and programs, which is included in
appendix II.
To determine the statutory framework that requires aliens to report their
addresses and any address changes, we identified and reviewed the laws and
regulations, congressional testimony and reports, and prior GAO reports.
To determine whether INS*s alien address information can be used to
reliably locate aliens in the United States, we reviewed INS documentation
and data, observed processing of the change of address
1 References in this report to aliens, unless otherwise specified, refer
to those immigrants and nonimmigrants in the United States who are
required to provide address information.
United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548
Page 2 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
forms in INS headquarters, and interviewed INS managers and staff and a
representative of the U. S. Postal Service. We also interviewed senior
representatives from the Executive Office for U. S. Attorneys, Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Secret Service, and the Foreign
Terrorist Tracking Task Force. 2 To identify the principal factors
affecting the reliability of INS*s alien address records, we analyzed the
information we obtained during the review. To obtain information on the
historical background of the alien registration requirement and programs,
we reviewed INS historical documentation and data and interviewed INS
managers and staff. See appendix I for a more detailed discussion of our
scope and methodology.
We performed our work from October 2001 through September 2002 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. We
requested comments on a draft of this report from the Attorney General.
Since 1940, the Congress has provided a statutory framework that requires
aliens entering or residing in the United States to provide identifying
and address information. This information is provided to INS. While the
law requires aliens who remain in the United States for 30 days or longer
to apply for registration, INS usually registers aliens at the time of
their entry into the country. Registration documents provide an alien*s
identity and address where the alien can be located. The law requires that
an alien report any change of address within 10 days of moving. Thus, if
aliens comply with the requirement, INS should be able to record and
maintain an address history for each alien, including their current
address. If an alien fails to comply with the change of address
notification requirement, it can result in the alien*s prosecution for a
misdemeanor. As provided in law, irrespective of whether the alien is
charged with or convicted of a misdemeanor, an alien, who fails to notify
the Attorney General in writing of each change of address and new address
within 10 days from the date of such change, shall be taken into custody
and removed from the United States unless the alien can establish to the
satisfaction of the Attorney General that the failure was reasonably
excusable or was not willful.
2 On October 29, 2001, the President directed the Attorney General to
create the Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force (Homeland Security
Presidential Directive * 2, National Security Presidential Directives).
The task force is to ensure that federal agencies coordinate their
programs so that aliens associated with, suspected of being engaged in, or
supporting terrorist activity are to be denied entry into and removed from
the United States. Results in Brief
Page 3 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Recent events have shown that INS*s alien address information cannot be
relied on to locate aliens. For example, as part of the nation*s
antiterrorism effort, the Attorney General directed all U. S. Attorneys in
November 2001 to locate and request voluntary interviews with about 4,800
nonimmigrant aliens who were believed to be in this country. U. S.
Attorneys, in cooperation with the Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force,
obtained the names and addresses for these aliens from INS. The task force
further supplemented INS*s alien address information by obtaining address
information from public source databases. The aliens* names and addresses
were then forwarded to the U. S. Attorneys in order that they could locate
and request interviews with them. U. S. Attorneys determined that 681
aliens had left the country. By the end of February 2002, even with the
information from public source data bases, 1,851, or about 45 percent, of
the 4, 112 aliens who were believed to still be in the country had not
been located and interviewed. Two other DOJ efforts to locate aliens have
met with even less success.
Lack of publicity, no enforcement of penalties for not filing change of
address notifications, and inadequate processing procedures and controls
explain in part why INS*s alien address information is unreliable.
Unreliable address information can also be attributed, in part, to aliens*
failure to report changes of address to the INS. Some aliens may be
unaware that they need to file a change of address form and do not comply.
This may be understandable given that INS does not publicize the change of
address requirement. Aliens may be aware that they need to file but do not
comply because they have little incentive to do so. On the basis of our
review of available data, INS does not appear to have enforced the removal
penalty for noncompliance since the early 1970s. According to INS
officials, INS cannot and does not enforce the penalty provisions of the
law because it cannot determine and certify from its change of address
records whether an alien failed to file the change of address
notification. When aliens are aware of and comply with the requirement to
file a change of address notification, INS*s address information may still
be unreliable. INS lacks adequate procedures and controls to ensure that
the alien address information it receives is completely processed.
Addressing these problems should help improve the reliability of INS*s
address information but would not necessarily result in a system that
would allow INS to reliably locate all aliens. This is because the
accuracy and reliability of INS*s address information is contingent on
aliens* compliance and some aliens may not comply.
In April 2002, INS established an Address Issues Task Force to review and
assess how alien address information is processed. The task force
Page 4 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
recommended a multi- phased strategy to improve operational efficiency. As
of September 11, 2002, INS had accepted the task force*s recommendations.
The Executive Associate Commissioner for Management was designated as the
lead agency official for address issues, an Address Issues Office was
established, and the Commissioner approved a Senior Level Advisory Group
for address issues. INS has also taken the first steps toward establishing
a centralized address repository and plans to implement the task force*s
other recommendations.
We are making seven recommendations to the Attorney General to promote
compliance through publicity and enforcement and to improve INS*s
identification and processing of aliens* address information. We provided
DOJ with a draft of this report for comment, and it generally concurred
with five, and did not comment on two of them. DOJ*s comments are included
as appendix III.
INS regulates immigration to the United States and oversees immigrants,
who intend to remain permanently in the United States, and nonimmigrants,
who intend to remain in the United States temporarily. INS receives and
maintains alien address information for benefits administration, law
enforcement, and national security purposes. Through registration and
change of address notifications, aliens provide their identity and an
address where they can be located while in the United States to INS, which
can share this information to help law enforcement officials identify and
locate aliens. 3
Generally, INS registers aliens at the time of their entry, using 1 of 12
different INS forms, including the Arrival and Departure Record (Form I-
94). For example, aliens arriving in the United States are generally
required to complete a two- part Form I- 94. The first part records
aliens* arrivals. The second part is to be surrendered when aliens leave
the country. INS is to match the first and second parts of the Form I- 94
to identify those aliens who have left the country. However, as reported
by DOJ*s Inspector General in 1997 and 2002, INS lacked many Form
3 Registration is a shared responsibility between the Departments of State
and Justice. The Attorney General is responsible for registering aliens
who remain in the United States for 30 days or more and who have not
otherwise registered, such as during the visa application process
administered by the Department of State. The Attorney General is also
responsible for collecting change of address information and issuing
certificates of registration. Background
Page 5 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
I- 94 departure records, and as a result, INS could not identify all of
the aliens who had left the country. 4
Aliens are required to report their change of address to INS within 10
days of moving. Failure to report a change of address can result in an
alien being taken into custody and placed in removal proceedings before an
immigration judge with the Executive Office for Immigration Review. To
place an alien in proceedings, INS is to serve the alien with a Notice to
Appear, which cites the charge( s) and the date and location where the
hearing is to be held. At the conclusion of the hearing, the immigration
judge may order the alien to be removed or may grant relief from removal.
Either INS or the alien may appeal the immigration judge*s decision to the
Board of Immigration Appeals.
As shown in figure 1, INS has a prescribed change of address form, (i. e.,
Form AR- 11) that is available in six languages (English, Spanish,
Chinese, Russian, Korean, and Vietnamese) and is to be used by all aliens
to report their new addresses.
4 See Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Immigration
and Naturalization Service Monitoring of Nonimmigrant Overstays, Report
Number I- 97- 08 (Washington, D. C.: Sept. 1997); and Follow- Up Report On
INS Efforts To Improve The Control of Nonimmigrant Overstays, Report No.
I- 2002- 006, (Washington, D. C.: Apr. 2002).
Page 6 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Figure 1: INS*s Form AR- 11 Is Available in Six Languages
Source: INS. Russian Chinese
Korean Vietnamese Spanish
USA English (postcard)
Page 7 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Prior to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the Congress
mandated that INS improve its ability to identify aliens who arrive and
depart the United States and who overstay their visas. In Section 110 of
the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 5
and amendments to that section, the Congress reinforced the importance of
the government being able to identify which lawfully admitted
nonimmigrants remained in the United States beyond their authorized
period. This section directs the Attorney General to develop an integrated
entry and exit control system that will collect the records of arrival and
departure for every alien entering and leaving the United States. The 1996
act also authorized the establishment of an electronic student tracking
system to verify and monitor the foreign student and exchange visitor
information program. 6 The deadline for implementing the new electronic
student tracking system is January 1, 2003.
According to proposed rules issued by DOJ on June 13, 2002, the events of
September 11 point to the need to implement measures that would provide
the government with information on certain aliens who are in the country,
whether they are in compliance with their authorized limits of stay, and
their activities and whereabouts. The USA Patriot Act (P. L. 107- 56),
enacted in October 2001, directs the Attorney General to implement the
entry- exit system *with all deliberate speed and as expeditiously as
practicable* and authorized funds to fully implement INS*s new foreign
student tracking system. The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry
Reform Act (P. L. 107- 173), enacted in May 2002, also authorized funds
for implementing the foreign student tracking system. 7 The Congress has
required that the entry- exit system be implemented at airports and
seaports by December 31, 2003.
5 P. L. 104- 208, codified at 1365a. 6 Section 641, codified at 8 U. S. C.
1372. 7 The Congress is considering the inclusion of INS in the Office of
Homeland Security.
Page 8 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Since the 1940 passage of the Alien Registration Act, the Congress has
required aliens to register and provide address information so that the
government can track aliens* past and current locations and locate aliens
when necessary. 8 As part of the effort to protect the nation in
anticipation of World War II, the Congress required aliens to register, be
fingerprinted, and notify the Attorney General of each change of address,
thereby providing INS with the means to identify, track, and locate aliens
while they are in the United States. According to the legislative history
of the Alien Registration Act, the act was considered to be *a measure of
selfdefense to provide for the fingerprinting and registration of all
aliens in the United States*( and)* a safeguard to know something about
their activities and their movements here.* 9
Although some requirements of the law have varied since 1940, the Congress
has continuously required immigrant and nonimmigrant aliens entering or
living in the United States to provide identifying and current address
information and has provided penalties for failing to register or file
address information. As shown in figure 2, the Alien Registration Act of
1940 required immigrant and nonimmigrant aliens to register with the
government. 10 Immigrants were required to report changes of address
within 5 days, and nonimmigrants were required to report their address
every 90 days irrespective of whether they had moved. In 1950, the
Congress increased the reporting requirements for immigrants by requiring
them to annually report their addresses. 11 In 1952, the Congress extended
the annual address reporting and change of address notification
requirements to all aliens and also extended from 5 to 10 days the amount
of time aliens were provided to file a change of address. 12 In 1981, the
Congress eliminated the requirements that aliens annually report their
addresses and that nonimmigrants report their address every 90 days. 13
8 Diplomats, representatives of international organizations and their
families, and individuals remaining in the United States for less than 30
days are not required to register. 9 86 Cong. Rec. H. 9033 (June 22, 1940)
(statement of Rep. C. E. Hancock, one of the House managers). 10 Ch. 439,
54 Stat. 670 (1940).
11 The Internal Security Act of 1950 required alien residents to annually
report their addresses. Ch. 1024, 64 Stat. 987. The law also extended
coverage to nonimmigrants who had overstayed their visas and any alien in
an illegal status.
12 Immigration and Nationality Act, Ch. 477, 66 Stat. 163 (1952). 13
Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1981, P. L. No. 97- 116, 95
Stat. 1611 (1981). Congress Provided
the Framework for INS to Locate Aliens
Page 9 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Although the Congress eliminated these requirements, it vested the
Attorney General with discretionary authority, upon 10 days* notice, to
require aliens from any country or countries, or any class or group, who
are required to be registered, to provide their current address and such
additional information as may be required. 14 These changes represent the
latest amendments to the laws governing alien registration and address
reporting. The Congress currently requires aliens to provide address
information through registration and change of address reporting
requirements. 15
In addition to the registration and change of address requirements, the
Congress has continuously provided penalties for aliens who failed to
comply with these requirements, as shown in figure 2. The misdemeanor
penalty enacted in 1940 for failing to file a change of address notice was
a fine of up to a $100 and/ or imprisonment for up to 30 days. In 1952,
the misdemeanor penalty was increased to a $200 fine and/ or imprisonment
for up to 30 days and a removal penalty was added, irrespective of whether
the alien is charged with or convicted of a misdemeanor. The law provides
that an alien, who fails to notify the Attorney General in writing of each
change of address and new address within 10 days from the date of such
change, shall be taken into custody and removed from the United States
unless the alien can establish to the satisfaction of the Attorney General
that the failure was reasonably excusable or was not willful. As of
September 2002, this penalty remained in effect. 16
14 The Attorney General*s discretionary authority in 8 U. S. C. 1305( b)
extends to *the natives of any one or more foreign states, or any class or
group thereof* referred to here as aliens. 15 The current requirements for
alien registration and change of address are codified at 8 U. S. C. 1301-
1306. 16 The current penalties for noncompliance with registration and
change of address requirements are codified at 8 U. S. C. 1306.
Page 10 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Figure 2: Requirements and Penalties for Registration and Address
Reporting from June 28, 1940 to June 28, 2002
Legislation and dates of applicability
Immigrants Nonimmigrants Register a
No requirement Yes
Yes Yes Yes
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yes Yes b Yes No No
requirement No requirement
No penalty
Deportation c No requirement No
requirement No
requirement No
requirement No
requirement No
Within 10 days Within 5
days Unchanged Unchanged
Within 10 days of January 1st
Within 30 days of January 1st
Within 30 days of January 1st Within 10
days Unchanged Unchanged File change of
address notice Register a Report address every 90 days File change
of address notice Annually report
their address Annually report
their address
Penalties for noncompliance Registration and address reporting
requirements
Alien Registration Act of 1940 (June 28, 1940 to September 22, 1950)
Fine not to exceed $100 and/ or imprisonment for
not more than 30 days Fine not to exceed $100 and/ or imprisonment for
not more than 30 days Unchanged Unchanged
Unchanged Unchanged Unchanged Fine not to exceed $1,000
and/ or imprisonment not more than 6 months
for willful failure or refusal to comply with the registration
requirements
Fine not to exceed $200 and/ or imprisonment not more than 30 days.
Removal of the alien from the United States. d
Fine not to exceed $200 and/ or imprisonment not more than 30 days.
Removal of the alien from the United States. d
Fine not to exceed $200 and/ or imprisonment not more than 30 days.
Removal of the alien from the United States. d Failure to register Failure
to file change
of address notice Failure to annually
report address Failure to report
address every 90 days Internal Security
Act 1950 (September 23, 1950 to June 26, 1952)
Immigration and Naturalization Act (June 27, 1952 to December 28, 1981)
Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1981 (Dec. 29, 1981 to June
28, 2002)
Page 11 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
a All aliens 14 years of age or older who remain in the United States for
30 days or more must register. A parent or legal guardian must register an
alien who is under 14 years of age. Exceptions to the registration
requirements are provided for aliens who remain in the United States for
less than 30 days, foreign government officials and their family members,
and representatives of international organizations and their family
members. b Required by regulation 8 C. F. R. 119. 3 (1950).
c The requirement to report an address every 90 days was by regulation (8
C. F. R. 119.3), a condition of entry. Violation of a condition of entry
could result in an alien*s deportation. d An alien is to be removed from
the United States unless the alien establishes to the satisfaction of
the Attorney General that the violation was reasonably excusable or was
not willful. Source: GAO*s analysis.
On June 13 and July 26, 2002, DOJ reiterated that certain aliens are
legally obligated to file a change of address form with INS within 10 days
of moving to a new address to be used for enforcement and other purposes.
On June 13, 2002, DOJ issued a proposed rule concerning the registration
and monitoring of certain nonimmigrants. 17 Specifically, the proposed
rule would impose registration requirements on nonimmigrants from Iran,
Iraq, Libya, Sudan, and Syria; certain nonimmigrant aliens from other
countries that the State Department and INS determine to be an elevated
national security risk; and aliens fitting specific criteria who are
identified by INS inspectors at points of entry into the United States.
Individuals falling into these categories would be required to provide
specific information at regular intervals to ensure that they were in
compliance with the terms of their visas and admission and that they
departed at the end of their authorized stay. The proposed rule reminded
aliens that they are required to submit to INS changes of address and that
failure to do so could result in their removal. The final rule was
published and became effective on September 11, 2002. 18
On July 26, 2002, INS issued a proposed rule requiring every alien who is
applying for immigration benefits to acknowledge having received notice of
the requirement to provide a valid current address to INS, including any
change of address within 10 days of the change. 19 INS plans to use the
most recent address information for all purposes, including the service of
a Notice to Appear if INS initiates removal proceedings.
17 67 Fed. Reg. 40581 (June 13, 2002). 18 67 Fed. Reg. 52584 (August 12,
2002). 19 67 Fed. Reg. 48818 (July 26, 2002).
Page 12 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Despite these laws and regulations, INS*s address information cannot be
relied upon to locate many aliens who are in the United States. Since
September 11, 2001, DOJ has made several different attempts to locate
aliens as part of its anti- terrorism efforts. These efforts have not been
fully successful. In addition, the alien identifying and address
information maintained by INS may not allow law enforcement officials to
verify the identity of an alien being sought in cases where several aliens
have the same name but are located at different addresses. Senior
representatives of the FBI, the Secret Service, and the Foreign Terrorist
Tracking Task Force told us that the ability to locate aliens within the
United States is crucial to their respective missions. According to a
senior representative of the task force, the ability to locate aliens in
this country is also crucial to the nation*s success in fighting the war
on terrorism.
On November 9, 2001, as part of the nation*s anti- terrorism effort, the
Attorney General directed all U. S. Attorneys to locate and request
voluntary interviews with 4,793 nonimmigrant aliens who might have had
knowledge of foreign terrorists or their organizations. To assist the U.
S. Attorneys, the Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force asked INS to
provide current address information for the aliens who were to be sought
for interviews. INS obtained the address information from the Nonimmigrant
Information System (NIIS), an automated database that contains address and
identity information on nonimmigrants who were inspected upon their entry
into the United States. Because the task force considered INS*s address
information to be of questionable reliability, it consulted public source
databases and supplemented INS*s information in order to provide the most
current address information for these aliens to the U. S. Attorneys. U. S.
Attorneys determined that 681 aliens had left the country. As of February
26, 2002, even with the information from public source data bases, 1,851,
or 45 percent, of the 4,112 aliens believed to be in the country had not
been located and interviewed while 2,261, or 55 percent, had been located
and interviewed. 20
As a second example, INS investigators determined that INS*s address
information was inaccurate for 45 aliens who may have known some of the
terrorists responsible for the September 11th attacks. According to the
Assistant District Director for Investigations in San Diego, he was
advised that at least two of the terrorists had student visas and were
supposed to
20 According to an Executive Office for U. S. Attorneys* report, *a small
percentage* of aliens were located and declined to be interviewed. INS*s
Alien Address
Records Are Not Reliable
Page 13 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
be attending school in the San Diego area. He requested that INS
headquarters provide him with a list of aliens with student visas who had
entered the United States within the last 2 years and, at the time of
their entry, indicated they were going to the San Diego area. From a list
of 700 aliens, INS investigators identified 45 whom they wanted to locate.
According to INS investigators who sought to locate these aliens, INS*s
address information for all 45 student aliens was inaccurate as none of
them were located at the addresses that INS had provided. Efforts to
supplement INS*s address information with the schools* address information
provided accurate addresses for 10 students. It is possible that some or
all of the 35 aliens that INS could not locate had left the country.
As a third example, in January 2002, the Deputy Attorney General directed
INS and other DOJ components to establish an Absconder Apprehension
Initiative to locate and remove aliens who had been ordered removed but
who had failed to leave the United States. Of the estimated 314,000 aliens
with final orders of removal still at large in the United States, INS
identified 5,046 who were from countries in which there has been an Al
Qaeda terrorist presence or activity. To locate and apprehend these
aliens, INS, in cooperation with the FBI, the Foreign Terrorist Tracking
Task Force, and U. S. Attorneys, used INS address data and supplemented
these data with address information from public source databases.
According to a senior INS official, as of June 24, 2002, 4,334, or 86
percent, of the 5, 046 alien absconders had not been apprehended, while
712, or 14 percent, had been apprehended. It is possible that some of the
aliens who had not been located may have left the country.
These examples illustrate one inherent limitation of an address reporting
requirement that relies on self reporting, as the reliability and
completeness of the address information is dependent on the extent to
which aliens comply with the reporting requirement. Those aliens who wish
to remain illegally in the country would not likely comply as it could
lead to their removal. In these examples, many aliens were not found even
after INS*s address information was supplemented with address information
from public source databases or schools, which could indicate that some
aliens may be able to avoid detection.
In addition, aliens* identifying and address information maintained by INS
may not allow law enforcement officials to verify the identity of an alien
being sought in cases where several aliens have the same name but are
located at different addresses. Senior officials from the FBI, the Secret
Service, and the Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force stressed the need
to be able to verify an alien*s identity in order to determine the correct
Page 14 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
address. These officials recommended that INS collect aliens* Social
Security numbers (SSNs) in order to verify an alien*s identity. The law
provides authority for the Attorney General to require aliens to provide
their SSNs. 21 As shown in figure 3, INS formerly collected aliens* SSNs
on the Form I- 53 as part of the alien address reporting program.
21 8 U. S. C. 1304( f).
Page 15 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Figure 3: INS*s Alien Address Report Provided for Collecting Aliens* SSNs
Source: INS.
Page 16 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
When the program ended in 1981, 22 INS eliminated the Form I- 53 and did
not revise the change of address form (Form AR- 11) to provide for aliens
to report their SSNs. Collecting aliens* SSNs can help verify an
individual*s identity and provide ready access to records, such as drivers
licenses and financial records, that are searchable using SSNs. Having
aliens* SSNs would also afford the federal government a better opportunity
to locate aliens through automated databases that are searchable using
SSNs. 23 Revising the Form AR- 11, to include a field that an alien can
use to report a SSN or indicate that he or she does not have one, would
provide one method for collecting this information.
Lack of publicity, no enforcement of penalties for not filing a change of
address notification, and inadequate procedures and controls for
processing change of address notifications explain in part why INS cannot
maintain current and reliable address information. Unreliable address
information can also be attributed, in part, to aliens* failure to report
changes of address to the INS. Since INS does little to actively publicize
the requirement, aliens may not know of the requirement and may not file
the notification. Alternatively, aliens may know of the requirement and
choose not to file the notification. INS is not in a position to enforce
the penalty, and aliens who knowingly do not file change of address
notifications are not likely to face any adverse consequences. When aliens
file the notification, INS may have unreliable address information because
it lacks adequate procedures and controls to ensure that aliens* address
information is processed properly so that all automated databases are
updated.
Aliens cannot comply with the requirement to file a change of address
notification if they are not aware of the need to file or if they lack
ready access to the form. To promote compliance with the change of address
notification requirement, INS needs to make aliens aware that the
requirement exists. However, according to INS officials, INS does not
publicize the requirement, and INS does not inform aliens of the
requirement when they enter the country. Furthermore, for those aliens who
know about and seek to comply with the filing requirement, INS has not
made the Form AR- 11 available at post offices as required by the Code
22 INS collected but did not process alien address reports in 1981. 23 Not
every alien is required to have an SSN. Lack of Publicity, No
Enforcement of Penalties, and Inadequate Processing Procedures Contribute
to INS*s Unreliable Address Information
INS Does Not Publicize the Address Notification Requirement
Page 17 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
of Federal Regulations. 24 According to a senior postal service official,
INS*s change of address notification forms are not available in post
offices because INS has not made arrangements with the U. S. Postal
Service to provide and distribute the form. INS provides the Form AR- 11
at its field offices, through its form centers, and on its Web site at
www. ins. usdoj. gov.
According to INS officials, INS is not in a position to place aliens in
removal proceedings for failing to file a change of address notification
because their address records are not maintained in a manner that will
permit INS to certify that an alien has not complied with the law. Aliens
may be aware of the requirement but may have little incentive to comply
given that, based on our review of available data, INS does not appear to
have enforced the removal penalty for noncompliance since the early 1970s.
INS*s historical records from 1950 through 2002 do not provide the number
of aliens who were placed in removal proceedings for failing to file a
change of address notification. According to an official with the
Executive Office for Immigration Review, its records date from 1988 and
contain no cases where aliens were charged and placed in removal
proceedings for failing to file a change of address notification. A review
of federal cases and cases brought on appeal from the Executive Office for
Immigration Review to the Board of Immigration Appeals indicates just a
few instances where INS charged an alien with failure to file a
notification of address or change of address in a removal proceeding. 25
We also found a few cases where an alien was prosecuted for failure to
give notice of an address or change of address. 26
Senior INS investigators cited two reasons for INS*s lack of enforcement.
The principal reason cited was that INS*s change of address records are
24 8 C. F. R. 265.1. 25 For example, Matter of Winter, 12 I. and N. 638,
(BIA, Feb. 9, 1968), Sevitt v. Del Guercio,
150 F. Supp. 56 (S. D. Cal. 1957). 26 For example, U. S. v. Ushi Shiroma,
123 F. Supp. 145 (D. Haw. 1954), U. S. v. Ginn, 222 F. 2d 289 (3rd Cir.
1955). In addition, during the period of time when annual address report
requirements were in effect, we identified several Board of Immigration
Appeals and federal court cases relating to the enforcement of this
provision. See U. S. v. Sacco, 428 F. 2d 264 (9th Cir. 1970), Patsis v.
Immigration & Naturalization Service, 337 F2d 733 (8th Cir. 1964), Matter
of S, 7 I. and N. 536, (BIA, Aug. 19, 1957), Matter of M, 5 I. and N. 216,
(BIA, May 6, 1953), Matter of B, 5 I. and N. 692, (BIA, Mar. 2, 1954). INS
Is Not in a Position To
Enforce the Removal Penalty
Page 18 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
not maintained in a manner that permits the agency to determine whether an
alien has complied with the requirement. In order to place an alien in
removal proceedings, INS is required to certify that the alien did not
comply with the filing requirement by issuing a certificate of no record.
According to a senior official with INS*s Office of General Counsel, if
the certificate is to be legally sustainable, INS must be able to check
all change of address records to be certain that the alien did not comply.
However, INS lacks procedures and controls for maintaining complete and
current change of address records. As a result, INS cannot determine
whether an alien has complied and, therefore, cannot issue certificates of
no record with the required degree of certainty. According to a 1944 INS
report, INS was able to determine if an alien had complied with the change
of address requirement because it maintained all address verification
cards within the Alien Registration Division in headquarters. As a result,
INS personnel could review the change of address records to determine if
an alien had provided a change of address. If no change of address card
for a specific alien was in INS*s centralized file, INS could determine
that it did not have a record showing that the alien had reported a change
of address. Senior INS records officials said that it would be impossible
to reliably reconstruct years of change of address records in order to
create a complete, current, and centralized system of address records
because they could not be certain that some change of address records had
not been lost, misplaced, misfiled, or destroyed.
The second reason cited for INS*s lack of enforcement was that the
agency*s internal policy discourages enforcement of this type of case.
INS*s Operations Instructions provide internal guidance to its employees.
The Operations Instructions governing the enforcement of the penalties for
failure to comply with the reporting requirement states that noncompliance
shall not normally serve as the sole basis for initiating prosecution or
removal proceedings. 27 In contrast, under the law, noncompliance can be
the sole basis for removal unless the alien can establish that the
violation was not willful or was reasonably excusable. This internal
policy has been in effect since March 8, 1972. According to a senior INS
investigative official, this policy may have been established because INS
could not reliably determine if an alien had or had not filed a change of
address notification. Senior INS investigative officials said they
interpret the instruction as preventing enforcement of the penalties.
27 INS Operations Instructions 265. 1( a), TM 105 revised 11/ 17/ 82, p.
4341.
Page 19 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
When aliens do submit Forms AR- 11, INS must update its automated
databases for the estimated 111,500 change of address notifications it
receives annually. 28 However, INS lacks written procedures and automated
controls to help ensure that reported changes of address are recorded in
all automated databases.
INS has at least 16 different automated databases that capture alien
identity and address information. 29 For example, when an alien enters the
country as a visitor, his or her name and intended address are to be
recorded in the automated NIIS. If the alien subsequently applies to
adjust his or her visa status, the application for adjustment is to be
recorded in the automated Computer Linked Application Information
Management System (CLAIMS 3). Consequently, an alien*s name and address
may appear in more than one INS automated system. In this example, if the
alien then moved and filed a change of address notification, INS would
have to update both NIIS and CLAIMS 3 to ensure that the most current
address information was recorded and that the address data across
different automated databases was consistent. However, INS does not update
all databases that contain alien address information and does not have the
ability to update address information in NIIS.
28 The Comptroller General*s standards for federal internal controls
specify that control activities should be established to ensure
transactions are completely and accurately recorded in a timely manner.
29 Some of the automated databases that contain address information are:
the Employment Authorization Document System; Marriage Fraud Amendment
System; Computer Linked Application Information Management System 3 and 4;
Deportable Alien Control System; Re- engineered Naturalization Application
Casework System; Refugees, Asylum, and Parole System; Integrated Card
Production System; Global Enrollment System; Arrival Departure Information
System; Enforcement Case Tracking System; Student and Schools System;
General Counsel Electronic Management System; Student Exchange Visitor
Information System; Asylum Pre- screening System; and the Nonimmigrant
Information System. INS Lacks Procedures and
Controls Needed To Ensure Alien Address Information Is Complete
INS Does Not Update Address Information in All Automated Databases
Page 20 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Figure 4: INS*s Processing of the Form AR- 11
Source: GAO*s analysis.
As shown in figure 4, INS*s prescribed change of address form is the Form
AR- 11 that is to be used by all aliens to report their new address.
Aliens are to complete a Form AR- 11 and mail it to INS headquarters in
Washington, D. C. Upon receipt, INS staff determine where each alien*s
file is located and forward the change of address card to the appropriate
INS office. INS does not create paper- based files for most nonimmigrant
aliens. Consequently, if INS headquarters staff cannot associate a Form
AR- 11 with an alien*s file, the card is placed in a box and held until a
technician can do further research on them. These cards are not forwarded
to any INS office and are not used to update automated databases. The
forms that are sent to district offices or INS*s National Records Center
may not be used to update any database as there are no written procedures
or automated controls that require or would provide for updating all
databases. Change of address forms that are sent to the service centers
are to be used to update the CLAIMS 3 database. No other databases that
may also contain the alien*s address are updated.
Databases to be updated
Consults Central Index System
to determine location of alien's file
INS Headquarters
Form AR- 11
Front Back
Box under desk (no file)
None INS Records Center
(inactive file) None Service Centers
(pending benefit application) CLAIMS 3 District Offices
(active file) None
Page 21 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Figure 5: INS*s Processing of Other Change of Address Forms
Source: GAO*s analysis.
I- 855 I- 104
I- 697A INS location where
form is to be sent
Naturalization applicants Legalization and seasonal or replenishment
agricultural worker applicants Alien's sponsors Aliens who are required
by the Attorney General to register their address
Unspecified Unspecified
Asylum Offices
I- 865 1- 800- 375- 5283 National Customer
Service Center INS Service
Centers
Databases to be updated
CLAIMS 3 CLAIMS 3
CLAIMS 4 Re- egineered Naturalization Application Casework
System ( RNACS) American Baptist
Church Class Members
INS Service Centers
Refugees, Asylum and Parole (RAPS)
and
Page 22 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
In addition to the Form AR- 11, INS has four other change of address forms
and a 1- 800 telephone number that are generally to be used by aliens who
qualify or have applied for a specific immigration benefit. As shown in
figure 5, the different forms are to be sent to INS*s service centers or
asylum offices for processing. At the service centers and asylum offices,
some but not all automated databases are required to be updated with the
new address information. 30 Consequently, for those aliens who submit a
change of address form, the consistency of their address information may
vary between or among different INS automated databases.
Irrespective of the change of address form that is used, all databases are
not updated because INS does not have adequate written procedures or
automated controls that require or provide for updating address
information in all automated databases in which the alien*s name and
address information appears. INS could establish automated controls such
as a single automated address database from which other INS databases
download alien address information. Alternatively, INS could establish
automated linkages whereby updating address information in one automated
database would automatically update address information in all databases.
In either case, INS would need to record the date that the change of
address was received in order to identify which address was most current
and to determine whether an alien had filed a change of address within the
required 10 days. Furthermore, INS*s written procedures do not require all
databases with address information to be updated. INS has drafted but not
yet implemented field office processing procedures for the Form AR- 11.
These draft procedures do not require that all automated databases be
updated.
Potential alien address inconsistencies among INS databases may have
hampered DOJ*s efforts to locate aliens. For example, if any of the 4,793
aliens who were being sought for interviews by U. S. Attorneys had
submitted changes of address, their new addresses would not have been
recorded in the database that was used to search for their current
addresses. These aliens* address information was provided to the Foreign
Terrorist Tracking Task Force by INS from the NIIS database that is not
updated when INS receives changes of address. Consequently, these 4,793
aliens* address information was only as current as the date of their last
entry into the United States. In a similar example, the Alien Absconder
30 The majority of alien sponsors, who are to complete Form I- 865, are U.
S. citizens. Only those sponsors who are aliens would need to have their
addresses updated.
Page 23 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Initiative obtained address information on aliens who were ordered removed
but who failed to depart the country from INS*s Deportable Alien Control
System (DACS). As with the NIIS database, change of address information
submitted to INS is not used to update address information in DACS. As a
result, INS may have had current address information for some of these
aliens, but was not able to provide it because all INS databases are not
updated.
In April 2002, INS established an Address Issues Task Force to review and
assess how alien address information is processed. The task force
identified numerous issues regarding the capture, processing, and
recording of aliens* addresses. In May 2002, the task force prepared a
White Paper that developed a concept of operations for handling address
information and recommended a multi- phased strategy to improve
operational efficiency. INS*s concept of operations includes capturing and
electronically storing alien address information in a timely manner,
providing access to appropriate personnel through a single facility that
provides easy sharing and updating of address information, and providing
clear direction to aliens concerning their responsibility to provide
current address information. To implement this concept of operations, the
task force recommended a short-, medium-, and long- term strategy
including the designation of a lead agency official for address issues, a
reduction in the number of change of address forms, making the updating of
address information a priority, issuing a request for information to
identify best practices, developing a single centralized address
repository, and developing compliance policies to monitor the process.
As of September 11, 2002, INS had accepted the task force*s
recommendations. The Executive Associate Commissioner for Management was
designated as the lead agency official for address issues, an Address
Issues Office was established, and the Commissioner approved a Senior
Level Advisory Group for address issues. INS has also taken the first
steps toward establishing a centralized address repository and plans to
implement the task force*s other recommendations. According to the
Executive Associate Commissioner for Management, INS has received about
700,000 change of address notifications since July 22, 2002, when the
Attorney General announced the planned publication of a proposed rule
that, in part, restated that aliens are required to notify INS of changes
of address. To handle this unexpected deluge of change of address forms,
INS has made arrangements with one of its contractors to electronically
image and capture these forms. INS expects that the changes of address it
has received will form the basis for a new central address repository.
INS*s Actions to
Improve Alien Address Reliability
Page 24 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
The Congress has provided a statutory framework that requires aliens
entering or residing in the United States to provide identifying and
address information to INS. If aliens comply with the requirement, INS
should be able to record and maintain an address history for each alien
and locate the alien if needed. If an alien fails to comply with the
change of address notification requirement, it can result in the alien*s
prosecution for a misdemeanor and removal from the country.
INS should have a practical, reliable system to ensure that it has current
address information for aliens in the United States who are required to
register and provide any address changes. However, INS has not taken steps
to ensure that aliens know about their responsibility to notify INS of new
addresses, does not have an adequate system for handling change of address
forms it receives, cannot determine whether aliens are in compliance, and
has not sought to enforce the removal penalty against violators.
Since the events of September 11, 2001, it may be even more important for
the federal government to know where aliens are located. Without this
information, INS and law enforcement officials cannot quickly locate
certain aliens who could help with the nation*s anti- terrorism efforts or
who represent a national security threat. Because its alien address
information is unreliable, INS has had numerous difficulties locating
aliens who represented a national security threat or who could help with
the nation*s anti- terrorism efforts.
There are several steps that INS can take to begin the process of
improving its system for maintaining alien address information. These
involve implementing a publicity campaign to make more aliens aware of
their responsibilities; making arrangements with the U. S. Postal Service
to make forms available in post offices; establishing internal controls
for ensuring that data from aliens* change of address forms are consistent
in all automated databases and permit the issuance of a certificate of no
record; and clarifying internal guidance to establish that noncompliance
can be the sole basis for removal. INS has begun to take action to
implement the Address Issues Task Force recommendations that will help to
improve INS*s alien address information. As of October 2002, INS had
designated a lead agency official for address issues. Furthermore, INS
planned to reduce the number of change of address forms, make the updating
of address information a priority, issue a request for information to
identify best practices, develop a centralized address repository, and
develop compliance policies to monitor the process. Conclusions
Page 25 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Taking these steps should help improve the reliability of INS*s address
information, but they would not likely result in a system that would allow
INS to locate all aliens. To a large extent, the accuracy and reliability
of INS*s address information is contingent on aliens* compliance. It is
reasonable to assume that INS will never be able to know where every alien
is located at any point in time because some aliens who are in the United
States illegally may not want INS to know where they are and, therefore,
will not likely comply with the address reporting requirement. It is also
likely that some aliens will not know about the requirement or may simply
forget to file the forms. Moreover, for INS to maintain a reliable system
that is based solely on alien self- reporting would seem an almost
impossible task without a significant infusion of resources. There may be
alternative cost- effective approaches for obtaining or assembling more
complete and accurate alien address information, particularly for those
aliens who do not comply with the change of address notification
requirement, that meets the needs of INS and the law enforcement
community. These approaches include, but are not limited to, conducting a
nationwide alien address registration pursuant to the Attorney General*s
discretionary authority, requesting legislative reinstatement of the alien
address reporting program, matching INS address data with those of federal
and/ or state agencies, and purchasing address information from
commercially available sources. These approaches may expedite the
acquisition and/ or reduce the cost of acquiring complete and reliable
alien address information.
In order to promote compliance with the change of address notification
requirements through publicity and enforcement and to improve the
reliability of its alien address data, we recommend that the Attorney
General direct the INS Commissioner to:
Identify and implement an effective means to publicize the change of
address notification requirement nationwide. As part of its publicity
effort, INS should make sure that aliens have information on how to comply
with this requirement, including where information may be available and
the location of change of address forms.
Develop procedures for distributing change of address forms to include
making arrangements with the U. S. Postal Service to provide for placing
change of address forms in all post offices, as required by the Code of
Federal Regulations. Recommendations
for Executive Action
Page 26 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Establish written procedures and controls to ensure that alien address
information in all automated databases is complete, consistent, accurate,
and current.
In connection with updating automated databases, establish procedures
and controls that permit INS to verify receipts of change of address
records and issue a certificate of no record, when aliens do not comply
with the change of address notification requirement.
Revise INS*s operating instructions to make clear that noncompliance
with address reporting requirements can be the sole basis for removal, as
provided at 8 U. S. C. 1306( b).
Provide a field on change of address forms that an alien can use to
report a SSN or indicate that they do not have one, with the appropriate
notifications and safeguards required by law.
Evaluate alternative approaches and their associated costs for obtaining
or assembling complete alien address information, particularly for those
aliens who do not comply with the change of address notification
requirement.
DOJ*s Acting Assistant Attorney General for Administration provided us
with written comments on a draft of this report. In its comments, DOJ
generally concurred with five of our seven recommendations and will
proceed in accordance with them. Specifically, DOJ agreed to publicize
address notification requirements; widely distribute change of address
forms, which would include U. S. post offices; establish procedures and
controls to permit INS to enforce the penalty provisions for noncompliance
with the change of address notification requirement; revise INS*s internal
operating instructions; and provide for aliens to report their Social
Security number or indicate they do not have one on the change of address
form. DOJ also described actions it has already taken and some of the more
significant constraints in proceeding with the recommendations we
proposed.
The constraints DOJ cited included (1) the need to revise the change of
address form and renegotiate an agreement with the U. S. Postal Service
before distributing the forms; (2) the need to develop a comprehensive
address file system to ensure that record keeping will support removal
proceedings, and (3) the likelihood that revising internal operating
instructions will not result in additional criminal prosecutions for
failing to Agency Comments
and Our Evaluation
Page 27 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
file a change of address notice because U. S. Attorneys generally decline
to prosecute minor offenses.
We recognize that there are practical and time sequential considerations
associated with implementing our recommendations; however, these
considerations should not obviate the need to improve the government*s
ability to locate aliens by increasing the reliability of INS*s alien
address information. We agree that change of address forms should be
revised before they are distributed and that an agreement with the U. S.
Postal Service needs to be reached before the forms can be placed in post
offices. We further agree that INS*s alien address records need to be
complete, consistent, accurate, and current before they can reasonably be
expected to support removal proceedings. Also, we would not expect an
increase in criminal prosecutions for failing to file a change of address
notice. However, INS investigative officials viewed the revision of INS*s
internal operating instructions as a necessary condition precedent to
placing noncomplying aliens in removal proceedings. We view these
considerations not as constraints but as reasonable steps that must be
taken to implement our recommendations.
DOJ did not comment on our recommendations to (1) establish written
procedures and controls to ensure that alien address information in all
automated databases is complete, consistent, accurate, and current or (2)
evaluate alternative approaches and their associated costs for obtaining
or assembling complete alien address information, particularly for those
aliens who do not comply with the change of address notification
requirement.
DOJ provided us with technical comments, which we incorporated in the
report as appropriate. DOJ*s comments are reproduced in appendix III.
We are sending copies of the report to the Chairmen and Ranking Minority
Members of the Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary; the Chairman
and Ranking Minority Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Senate
Committee on the Judiciary; the Ranking Minority Member of the
Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, House Committee on the Judiciary;
the Attorney General; the Commissioner of INS; the Director of the FBI;
the Director of the Secret Service; the Director of the Foreign Terrorist
Tracking Task Force; the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;
the Director of the Office of Homeland Security; and other interested
parties. We will also make copies available
Page 28 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
to others upon request. In addition, the report will be available at no
charge on the GAO Web site at http:// www. gao. gov.
If you or your staffs have any questions about this report, please contact
Evi Rezmovic or me at (202) 512- 8777. Key contributors to this report are
listed in appendix IV.
Richard M. Stana Director, Justice Issues
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology Page 29 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
To determine the statutory framework that requires aliens to report their
addresses and any changes, and to provide historical background
information on prior alien registration requirements and programs, we
reviewed laws, regulations, and Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS) publications and reports, including 8 U. S. C. 1301- 1306 from 1940
to 2002, 8 C. F. R. 264- 5; INS Annual Reports from 1941 to 1982; the
Administrative History of the INS During World War II; a 1943 Report to
the Attorney General on Alien Registration; a 1944 Report of Survey of the
Alien Registration Division; the INS Monthly Review from May 1944 to April
1952; the I& N Reporter from January 1956 to Winter 1977- 1978 1 ; the INS
Information Bulletin from August 22, 1951, through January 28, 1953; INS*s
Operating Instructions from April 19, 1954, to January 2002; and INS*s
internal publicity and operation files for the Alien Address Report
Program for 1977 through 1982. We reviewed prior reports on alien address
information issued by the Congressional Research Service, the Department
of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General, and us. We interviewed a
representative of the U. S. Postal Service to determine if change of
address forms were available in post offices. We also observed and
documented the processing of change of address forms in INS headquarters,
reviewed documentation from a 1995 INS task force that was responsible for
identifying ways to improve the change of address program, and interviewed
INS records and computer managers and senior representatives of the
Executive Office for U. S. Attorneys.
To determine whether INS*s alien address information can be used to
reliably locate aliens in the United States, we reviewed documentation and
interviewed senior investigators in INS*s National Security Unit and the
San Diego District and senior representatives from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), the Secret Service, and the Foreign Terrorist
Tracking Task Force. We did not independently review the accuracy and
reliability of INS*s databases, nor did we independently review the task
forces* attempts to locate aliens. We also did not independently verify
the data provided to us by (1) INS on the numbers of alien absconders who
were sought and apprehended, and (2) the Executive Office for U. S.
Attorneys on the numbers of nonimmigrants who were sought, had departed
the country, or who were located and interviewed.
1 In 1976, the I& N Reporter was renamed the *INS Reporter.* Appendix I:
Scope and Methodology
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology Page 30 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
To identify the principal factors affecting the reliability of INS*s alien
address information, we developed audit findings by analyzing the
information we obtained during the review.
We performed our work from October 2001 through September 2002 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Appendix II: An Historical Overview of INS*s Alien Registration Programs,
1940- 1981
Page 31 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
From 1940 through 1944, INS*s Alien Registration Division administered the
registration provisions of the Alien Registration Act of 1940. The act
required all aliens, except for foreign government officials and their
families, to be registered and fingerprinted. In 1950, the Congress
established an annual address reporting requirement for resident aliens
that was expanded in 1952 to cover all aliens who were required to be
registered. INS assigned responsibility for the Alien Address Report
Program to the Records Division, which administered the program until it
was ended in 1981.
In implementing the Alien Registration Act of 1940, INS sought to create
an inventory of aliens in the United States to include their locations and
to maintain current address information. Beginning August 27, 1940, INS,
in cooperation with the Post Office Department, registered and
fingerprinted aliens in the United States who were required to register.
As of December 31, 1940, 4, 921,452 aliens had been registered. Aliens in
the United States were required to submit (1) an official registration
form, which contained information such as name, country of birth, address,
occupation, and immigration status, and (2) a fingerprint card. INS
reviewed the registration documents and if they were found acceptable, a
registration receipt card bearing the individual number, name, and address
of the registrant was issued and mailed. Fingerprint cards were forwarded
to the FBI to identify aliens with criminal records. INS considered the
requirement that resident aliens notify of a change of address within 5
days to be important because it provided the only statutory method for
keeping these aliens* locations current. As of February 1, 1943, INS
received about 1,850,000 notifications of changes of address. In a 1943
report to the Attorney General on alien registration, the INS Commissioner
reported that the information collected by the Alien Registration Program
had been essential to preserving the nation*s internal security.
In 1944, the Commissioner requested that a survey of the Alien
Registration Division be undertaken to determine if the division*s
functions should be integrated into the central office or should continue
to be maintained separately. The survey concluded that it would be more
efficient to integrate the division*s functions into the central office,
and accordingly, the division was eliminated on December 31, 1944. One of
the reasons cited for eliminating the division was the inability to
maintain current address information for aliens who were in the country.
According to the survey report, an estimated 5 to 40 percent of the
registered aliens had moved without filing changes of address as required,
and the U. S. Appendix II: An Historical Overview of INS*s
Alien Registration Programs, 1940- 1981 The Alien Registration Program of
1940
Appendix II: An Historical Overview of INS*s Alien Registration Programs,
1940- 1981
Page 32 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Attorneys had refused to prosecute these violations. In addition, the act
did not require that aliens* deaths and departures be reported to the
Alien Registration Division and many were not reported. As a result, the
survey concluded that it was impossible to maintain a file of aliens*
address cards with any degree of accuracy.
Prior to 1950, INS had reported that aliens* address information, gathered
during the 1940 registration, was out of date because aliens were not
filing change of address notices, as required. In 1950, the Congress
required all resident aliens in the United States on January 1st to report
their addresses to INS. In addition, resident aliens were still required
to file a change of address notice if they moved. INS established the
Alien Address Report Program. INS created Alien Address Report Cards (Form
I- 53) and placed them in about 42,000 U. S. Post Offices and 450
Immigration offices nationwide, so aliens could report their addresses to
INS. In 1951, nearly 2.4 million resident aliens reported. Of that number,
INS identified over 50,000 individual aliens for whom INS had no record.
These cases were referred to INS field offices for investigation. INS also
found a fairly high incidence of noncompliance by comparing the address
reports to alien records at the central office. INS referred at least
120,000 noncompliance cases to its field offices for investigation. By
1980, aliens who annually reported their addresses to INS had increased to
nearly 5.4 million. 1 Figure 6 shows the number of annual address reports
INS received between 1951 and 1980, the last year that complete data were
available before the annual address reporting requirement was eliminated.
1 INS received annual address reports in 1981, but did not process them.
The Alien Address
Report Program of 1950
Appendix II: An Historical Overview of INS*s Alien Registration Programs,
1940- 1981
Page 33 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Figure 6: Number of Aliens Who Reported During the Alien Address Report
Program, 1951- 1980
Note: The 1952 data are approximate. Source: GAO*s analysis of INS*s data.
According to congressional and internal INS documentation, the program was
eliminated (1) to save between $542,000 and $800,000, (2) because the
address information was used primarily for statistical purposes, and (3)
because the Office of Management and Budget wanted to reduce the public*s
annual reporting burden by about 470,000 person- hours.
5.4 5.1 5 5 4.8 4.7
4.6 4.6 4.4 4.2 4.2 4 3.9
3.7 3.5 3.4 3.3 3.2
3.1 3 3 2.9 2.9 2.8 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.4
0 1
2 3
4 5
6 1951 1953 1955 1957 1959 1961 1963 Millions
1965 1967 1969 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1980 Years
Appendix II: An Historical Overview of INS*s Alien Registration Programs,
1940- 1981
Page 34 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Both the Alien Registration Program and the Alien Address Report Program
shared common program elements, including (1) publicizing the program
requirements nationwide, (2) centralizing management responsibility, (3)
centralizing nationwide alien address information which provided the
capability to conduct searches, and (4) investigating cases of alleged
violations of the requirements to file a change of address notification
and/ or an annual address report.
INS had about 2 months to publicize the registration requirements from the
time the law was enacted on June 28, 1940, until registration commenced on
August 27, 1940. In congressional testimony, the Director of the Alien
Registration Division said that government and private organizations
conducted an educational campaign to publicize the registration
requirements. Furthermore, according to the Director, the education effort
was deemed to be effective because most aliens were found to have
registered. In many cases, those who failed to register misunderstood the
requirement.
For the Alien Address Report Program, INS undertook extensive publication
of the filing requirements each year. Through a memorandum of
understanding with the U. S. Postal Service, INS placed forms and signs in
about 42,000 post offices nationwide to instruct aliens about the annual
address reporting requirement. In addition, as shown in figure 7, the Post
Office Department cancelled postage stamps with a cancellation that read,
*Aliens must report their addresses during January.* Further, INS placed
public service advertisements on radio and television to remind aliens of
the annual filing requirement. INS also prepared a poster to remind aliens
of the reporting requirement and placed it in railroad, airline, and bus
terminals. According to an INS official who worked in the program, the
nationwide publicity was responsible for ensuring that there was broad
public awareness that aliens were required to report their addresses to
INS during January of each year. Alien Registration
Programs Shared Common Program Elements
Program Requirements Were Publicized Nationwide
Appendix II: An Historical Overview of INS*s Alien Registration Programs,
1940- 1981
Page 35 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Figure 7: The Post Office Department Cancelled Stamps with a Reminder That
Aliens Must Report Their Addresses
Note: This is a copy of the original envelope; however, the name and
return address have been redacted for privacy reasons.
Source: Provided courtesy of John Hotchner, Past President, American
Philatelic Society.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Appendix II: An Historical Overview of INS*s Alien Registration Programs,
1940- 1981
Page 36 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Figure 8: INS*s 1953 Sign Placed in Post Offices Instructing Aliens to
Report Their Addresses
Source: GAO photograph of the original in the INS History Office Library.
To administer the provisions of the Alien Registration Act, INS
established the Alien Registration Division, which was responsible for
managing all aspects of the alien registration program. The four principal
objectives of the division were to
develop and maintain an index of information on aliens, verify the
accuracy of information provided by aliens, maintain the currency of the
records, and produce requested or required data. The Alien Registration
Division received and processed the forms required by the act.
Registration forms were inspected upon arrival and, if they were complete,
they were numbered, coded, and microfilmed for Program Responsibility
and Data Were Centralized
Appendix II: An Historical Overview of INS*s Alien Registration Programs,
1940- 1981
Page 37 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
preservation. On December 31, 1944, the Alien Registration Division was
disbanded, and the alien registration files were forwarded to INS*s field
offices.
In 1950, when INS established the Alien Address Report Program, it placed
responsibility for administering the program in the office with
responsibility for records administration. This office, the Records,
Administration and Information Branch, was responsible for receiving and
processing all annual reports and responding to inquiries from within and
outside the agency. By 1978, INS had automated the processing of the
annual address reports using a contractor.
Requiring all aliens to register in 1940 was intended to enable the
government to obtain comprehensive and detailed information on all
noncitizens in the United States for the first time in the history of the
nation. The nationwide information could be searched using different
criteria and was used by INS for purposes such as conducting background
checks on naturalization applicants. According to an internal INS report,
prior to alien registration, INS was hampered in these investigations by a
lack of sufficient information. The alien registration information
remedied this situation. In addition to using the data for their own
purposes, INS began receiving war time requests for information from other
federal agencies. However, before information could be released, it
required the approval of the Attorney General as the act required that all
registration information be kept confidential.
Examples of the requests that INS received and were granted by the
Attorney General are shown in table 1. Alien Registration
Information Was Searchable
Appendix II: An Historical Overview of INS*s Alien Registration Programs,
1940- 1981
Page 38 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Table 1: Examples of Requests for Alien Registration Data INS Approved and
Their Intended Use
Requesting agency Intended use
Treasury Department Freeze funds of aliens with enemy nationalities
Federal Communications Commission Identify licensed radio operators Civil
Aeronautics Board Identify alien pilots Selective Service System Identify
aliens who failed to register for
the draft War and Navy Departments Identify aliens applying for employment
in wartime industries Office of Export Control and Defense Board Identify
aliens engaged in exporting Securities and Exchange Commission Identify
aliens in violation of securities
acts Note: Information on the date the specific request was made and the
specific information that was requested were not available.
Source: GAO*s analysis of INS data.
However, all requests for alien registration data were not granted. Table
2 shows some examples of requests that were denied. INS documentation does
not provide the reasons for the denials.
Table 2: Examples of Requests for Alien Registration Data INS Denied and
Their Intended Use
Requester Intended use
Welfare organizations Citizenship and nationality of persons applying for
aid Relatives Locate missing relatives who were aliens Creditors Locate
alien debtors Attorneys Divorce and/ or custody proceedings Prisoners of
war Locate relatives
Note: Information on the date the specific request was made and the
specific information that was requested were not available.
Source: GAO*s analysis of INS data.
In cases where relatives were trying to find an alien, INS would notify
the alien that his or her relatives were seeking to locate him or her.
They would not release the alien*s location to the relatives. In a 1943
report to the Attorney General on the alien registration program, the INS
Commissioner said,
Appendix II: An Historical Overview of INS*s Alien Registration Programs,
1940- 1981
Page 39 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
*Primarily intended as a safeguard, the Act has made it possible to
provide war agencies and agencies concerned with the internal security of
the nation with the specific and essential information about individual
aliens and groups of aliens. At the same time, it has afforded the
Government an opportunity to gather basic sociological data about our
alien population that has long been needed for legislative and educational
purposes.*
As with the 1940 alien registration program, INS centrally received and
processed the alien address report program information. However, where the
1940 registration program sorted punched cards using tabulation equipment,
the 1950 program eventually established an automated database and entered
nationwide address- related information into it, thus enabling INS to
readily conduct searches. INS collected information that was used by
agencies to locate aliens, identify alien migration patterns, develop
investigative leads, estimate the naturalization workload, correspond with
aliens, and plan resource allocation. As shown in table 3, INS also
received requests from the Congress and federal, state, and local
government agencies.
Table 3: Examples of Requests for Alien Address Report Program Data INS
Approved and the Intended Uses
Requesting agency Intended use
Congress About 100 requests per year for alien data State and local
governments Requests for alien data Department of Justice: Office of
Special Investigations FBI Drug Enforcement Administration Department of
Treasury:
Customs Service Secret Service
Locate aliens Department of State:
Cuban/ Haitian Task Force Allocate state refugee funding, identify
unaccompanied minors, and validate and correct refugees* files Department
of Health and Human Services:
Office of Refugee Resettlement Allocate state and local refugee funding
Department of Commerce:
Bureau of the Census Estimate illegal alien population, identify Cuban
refugee locations, and track alien migration
Note: Information on the date the specific request was made and the
specific information that was requested were not available.
Source: GAO*s analysis of INS data.
Appendix II: An Historical Overview of INS*s Alien Registration Programs,
1940- 1981
Page 40 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
In 1941, INS organized the Special Inspections Division to enforce the
Alien Registration Act of 1940. The Division was responsible, among other
things, for identifying aliens who had failed to register or report a
change of address. However, enforcing the change of address provisions
proved difficult for INS because U. S. Attorneys generally declined to
prosecute the cases.
One potential method used by INS investigators to identify possible
violators of the change of address requirement involved mail that was
returned to INS by the Post Office Department. For example, INS mailed
registration receipt cards to aliens who had submitted acceptable
registration documents. Of about 5 million cards that were sent out,
480,000 were returned by the Post Office. Following a second mailing,
160,000 of the 480,000 were again returned by the Post Office. The 160,000
aliens, whose cards were returned, could have been investigated as
potential violators of the change of address filing requirement. INS
identified many violations of the change of address requirement; however,
U. S. Attorneys generally refused to prosecute the offenders. According to
the INS Commissioner in a letter to the Bureau of the Budget at that time,
*Although a penalty is provided for failure to notify change of address,
practically every United States Attorney has refused to prosecute unless
it is shown that such failure was willful. As a matter of fact, the
majority of the United States Attorneys have issued blanket waivers of
prosecution in these cases and have requested this Service not to present
them unless it is shown that the violation was willful. During the
calendar year 1943, some 7,488 investigations were conducted of aliens who
failed to notify change of address; 4,287 such cases were presented to the
United States Attorneys, and only 19 convictions were obtained. It is not
possible to make an accurate estimate of how many registrants have failed
to report changes of address.* 2 According to the 1944 Survey of the Alien
Registration Division to the INS Commissioner, INS staff estimated that
between 5 and 40 percent of the registered aliens had not notified INS of
their new address.
INS does not appear to have enforced the removal penalty for noncompliance
since the early 1970s. INS*s historical records from 1950 to 2002 do not
identify the number of aliens who were placed in removal proceedings for
failing to file a change of address notification. According to an official
with Executive Office for Immigration Review, their records date from 1988
and contain no cases where aliens were charged and
2 *Survey of the Alien Registration Division,* letter of Commissioner
Harrison to E. B. Wilber, Bureau of the Budget, March 6, 1944. Change of
Address and
Annual Address Reporting Violations Were Investigated
Appendix II: An Historical Overview of INS*s Alien Registration Programs,
1940- 1981
Page 41 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
placed in removal proceedings for failing to file a change of address
notification. A review of federal cases and cases brought on appeal from
the Executive Office for Immigration Review to the Board of Immigration
Appeals indicates just a few instances where INS charged an alien with
failure to file a notification of address or change of address in a
removal proceeding. 3 We also found a few cases where an alien was
prosecuted for failure to give notice of an address or change of address.
4
3 For example, Matter of Winter, 12 I. and N. 638, (BIA, Feb. 9, 1968),
Sevitt v. Del Guercio,
150 F. Supp. 56 (S. D. Cal. 1957) 4 For example, U. S. v. Ushi Shiroma,
123 F. Supp. 145 (D. Haw. 1954), U. S. v. Ginn, 222 F. 2d 289 (3rd Cir.
1955). In addition, during the period of time when annual address report
requirements were in effect, we identified several BIA and federal court
cases relating to the enforcement of this provision. See U. S. v. Sacco,
428 F. 2d 264 (9th Cir. 1970), Patsis v. Immigration & Naturalization
Service, 337 F2d 733 (8th Cir. 1964), Matter of S, 7 I. and N. 536, (BIA,
Aug. 19, 1957), Matter of M, 5 I. and N. 216, (BIA, May 6, 1953), Matter
of B, 5 I. and N. 692, (BIA, Mar. 2, 1954).
Appendix III: Comments from the Department of Justice
Page 42 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Appendix III: Comments from the Department of Justice
Appendix III: Comments from the Department of Justice
Page 43 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Appendix III: Comments from the Department of Justice
Page 44 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Appendix III: Comments from the Department of Justice
Page 45 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Appendix IV: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments
Page 46 GAO- 03- 188 Homeland Security
Richard M. Stana (202) 512- 8777 Evi L. Rezmovic (202) 512- 8777
In addition to the above, James M. Blume, Leah S. DeWolf, Jan B.
Montgomery, Ann H. Finley, Elizabeth Anne Laffoon, Leo M. Barbour, Mary
Catherine Hult, Kimberly A. Hutchens, Maureen R. Shields and Jay Jennings
made key contributions to this report. Appendix IV: GAO Contacts and Staff
Acknowledgments Contacts Acknowledgments
(440095)
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