United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office General Government Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1999-03-30 monographic deposited born digital 68 p. GA 1.13:GGD-99-31 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-31 P0b002ee180392720 f:gg99031 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-31 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-31 GGD-99-31 Smuggling Drug trafficking Internal controls Federal employees Personnel management Customs administration Ethical conduct Bribery Chapter Report GGD Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Immigration and Naturalization Service's (INS) and the U.S. Customs Service's efforts to address employee corruption on the Southwest Border, focusing on: (1) the extent to which INS and Customs have and comply with policies and procedures for ensuring employee integrity; (2) identifying and comparing the Department of Justice's (DOJ) and Department of the Treasury's organizational structures, policies, and procedures for handling allegations of drug-related employee misconduct and whether the policies and procedures are followed; (3) the types of illegal drug-related activities in which INS and Customs employees on the Southwest Border have been involved; and (4) the extent to which lessons learned from corruption cases closed in fiscal years 1992 through 1997 have led to changes in policies and procedures for preventing the drug-related corruption of INS and Customs employees.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) both INS and Customs have policies and procedures designed to ensure the integrity of their employees; (2) however, neither agency is taking full advantage of its policies, procedures, and the lessons to be learned from closed corruption cases to fully address the increased threat of employee corruption on the Southwest Border; (3) these policies and procedures consist mainly of mandatory background investigations for new staff and 5-year reinvestigations of employees, as well as basic integrity training; (4) while the agencies generally completed background investigations for new hires by the end of their first year on the job, as required, reinvestigations were typically overdue, in some instances, by as many as 3 years; (5) both INS and Customs said the basic training that new employees are to receive includes integrity training; (6) agency records for 284 of 301 randomly selected INS and Customs employees on the Southwest Border showed that they received several hours of integrity training as part of their basic training; (7) DOJ and Treasury have different organizational structures but similar policies and procedures for handling allegations of drug-related misconduct by INS and Customs employees; (8) DOJ's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is generally responsible for investigating criminal allegations against INS employees; (9) GAO found that the Justice OIG generally complies with its policies and procedures; (10) at the Treasury, Customs' Office of Internal Affairs is generally responsible for investigating both criminal and noncriminal allegations against Customs employees; (11) GAO could not assess Customs' compliance with its procedures because its automated case management system and case files did not provide the necessary information; (12) some INS and Customs employees on the Southwest Border have engaged in a variety of illegal drug-related activities; (13) INS and Customs have missed opportunities to learn lessons and change their policies and procedures for preventing the drug-related corruption of their employees; (14) the Justice OIG and Customs' Internal Affairs Office are required to formally report internal control weaknesses identified from closed corruption cases, but have not done so; and (15) GAO's review of 28 cases involving INS and Customs employees assigned to the Southwest Border, who were convicted of drug-related crimes in fiscal years 1992-1997, revealed internal control weaknesses that were not formally reported or corrected. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-31/html/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-31.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-31/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-31.pdf GAO/GGD-99-31 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-31 Chapter Report GAO/GGD-99-31; Drug Control: INS and Customs Can Do More To Prevent Drug-Related Employee Corruption; Smuggling Drug trafficking Internal controls Federal employees Personnel management Customs administration Ethical conduct Bribery Public Law 100-503