U.S. Border Patrol agents released migrants and their families on a terrorist watch list in Yuma in April 2022 after arresting them, according to government surveillance agencies.
A person familiar with the matter said the incident was caused by “inefficient practices and processes” at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which led to multiple mistakes. June report From the Office of the Inspector General of Homeland Security. The report documents the many failures that led to the liberation of immigrants.
The migrant, whose gender and nationality were not disclosed in the report, was encountered by border guards on April 17, 2022 and screened for any national security threats. The FBI’s Terrorist Testing Center flagged the immigrant as being on an inconclusive terrorist watch list. The center needed more identifying information, such as fingerprints and copies of travel documents, to elicit a positive match.
Border agents released the migrants two days later, according to reports.
On April 21, four days after the immigrants were released, the immigrants and their families checked into a plane bound for Tampa, Florida at Palm Springs International Airport in Palm Springs, California. According to the report, the FBI’s terror center obtained additional information about the immigrant during pre-flight screening and was able to ensure it was matched to a terrorist watch list.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement eviction operation arrested the migrant in Florida on May 6, more than two weeks after he was released from custody. DHS officials said the migrants wore monitors around their ankles, allowing authorities to continuously monitor their location.
Border Patrol agents round up people on terror watch lists only a small percentage of the total number of migrants agents encounter each year, he said. CBP data.
Watch list encounters are 0.0089% of all Border Patrol encounters, according to CBP data.
The OIG’s findings are just the latest of two government oversight reports examining CBP’s work.
“If CBP’s ineffective practice to resolve inconclusive matches on terrorist watch lists continues, this component risks releasing individuals to the United States who could threaten national security and public safety.” the report said.
In an emailed statement Monday, DHS officials said the title and structure of the report were misleading. Officials said CBP was not informed that the immigrant had a confirmed match to the FBI’s terrorist test data set at the time of its release.
Screening datasets, also known as terrorist watchlists, track people suspected of being involved in terrorist or related activities.
“This OIG report sensationalizes and mischaracterizes a complex incident in which CBP and ICE officials took appropriate steps to ensure that no threat to the public existed.” A DHS spokesperson said in a written statement.
“Non-citizens encountered by CBP will be thoroughly screened and screened, and individuals determined to pose a threat to national security or public safety will be detained.”
Rep. Paul Gossar (R-Arizona), who represents parts of Yuma County, called the incident “shameful.”
What led to the immigrant’s release and subsequent arrest?
After Border Patrol detains immigrants, agents send their backgrounds and biometric information to the FBI’s Terrorist Testing Center. The center will scan information through terrorist watch lists to determine if there are any.
If an inconclusive match is found, CBP’s National Targeting Center will work with Border Patrol to obtain detailed information about the immigrant and determine if they are a match.
In the case of the immigrant released in Yuma, the FBI Center asked the CBP Center to arrange an interview with the immigrant to gather further information for verification. CBP attempted to send an interview request to the Tactical Terrorism Response Team, which conducts interviews to identify national security threats.
However, the report found that the request was sent to the wrong email distribution list for the tactics team.
Officials at the CBP Center told investigators that there are many Border Patrol distribution lists and that targeted center personnel may not have up-to-date emails for each list.
As a result, the tactical team did not accept requests or interview migrants, according to the report.
The CBP center also obtained immigration information from the Joint Border Intelligence Group, but was unable to forward the information to the FBI center.
The CBP center then contacted the Yuma Centralized Processing Center for assistance in determining whether the migrant would fit the watch list.
Yuma Center did not respond to emails.
Officials at the Yuma processing center told investigators they were trying to respond to CBP’s targeting center emails as quickly as possible, but were overwhelmed with the growing number of immigrants. Yuma Center officials added that having exceeded the center’s capacity created pressure to process immigrants expeditiously, reducing the time available to review each file.
Finally, the Yuma Center processed and transferred the immigrant to release before the CBP Center completed coordination with the FBI Center to determine a positive match. The CBP center was still working to gather information for the FBI when the immigrants were released, according to the report.
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During arrests of migrants, ICE faced challenges such as transferring documents during arrest planning and obtaining GPS data during arrests, according to the report.
Authorities did not provide details about the immigrants’ gender or nationality in the report. However, the details of the case are consistent with those documented at a congressional hearing in July 2022 when lawmakers pursued a candidate for TSA administrator.
Details of the hearing are linked and referenced in the report. The hearing focused on a Colombian who was confirmed to be on the terror watch list with TSA assistance after being arrested in Yuma.
CBS News first reported the relationship.
Overcrowding and lengthy detentions found at Arizona facility
Former Inspector General’s Office report Border Patrol’s treatment of immigrant property was found to be inconsistent throughout the Tucson and Yuma districts. Some migrants’ property was not with them when they were released or transferred from border guard custody, according to a June report.
When migrants are detained, border agents give them the option of discarding their large belongings, such as backpacks and luggage, or placing them in long-term storage for later retrieval.
At the Yuma Processing Center, migrants’ larger property generally was not brought with them as they left custody, in accordance with CBP’s operating standards. Border control officials said that was not possible because the buses could not accommodate both the migrants and their larger premises, according to the report.
In addition, Yuma Center’s storage room only had space to store small personal items such as mobile phones, documents, and money. Our center in Tucson had space to store both large and small belongings.
“The findings that CBP mishandles sensitive property and documents are consistent with reports from immigrants and local officials who have warned us about the issue for months. It is unacceptable,” Ariz Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva said in a statement.
“Additional action by the Biden administration is needed to ensure uniform practices and humane treatment of immigrants and their belongings.”
Advocates have expressed concern that border agents are forcing migrants to dispose of their belongings before being detained near Yuma in the summer of 2022. Defenders found passports, birth certificates, bibles, photographs and even family remains dumped on the ground.
‘That’s all we have’:Migrants forced to dispose of their belongings at the border
Once, near a frequented spot next to the Kokopa settlement, a trash can was full of discarded backpacks. Border agents have since changed their ways, allowing migrants to bring their luggage to the station for processing.
The Arizona American Civil Liberties Union also expressed concern that Yuma border patrol agents were confiscating Sikh asylum seekers’ turbans, as first reported by the nonprofit Newsroom. Arizona Luminaria.
One migrant told OIG investigators that his turban had been confiscated and disposed of at the Yuma processing center, according to the report.
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All five Arizona Border Patrol facilities inspected in the report were found to be over capacity during unannounced inspections by investigators in July 2022, two of which were overcapacity detained for extended periods. bottom.
The report found that 43% of migrants had been detained for more than the 72 hours required by national standards for transport, escort, detention and search.
In the Yuma area, border guards detained 44% of migrants for more than 72 hours. In the Tucson area, agents held 41% for more than 72 hours, according to the report.
The longest detention time across all five facilities was 18 days, according to the report.
Additionally, the Yuma Border Patrol and Tucson Border Patrol processing centers were over capacity at the time of the visit.
The Yuma centralized processing center had a utilization rate of 193%. Three of the seven central containment chambers were near or over 200% capacity.
The Tucson Coordination Center was at 143% capacity. Four of the 12 pending cells at the Tucson Center were over capacity, one was over 139% capacity and three were over 200% capacity, according to the report.
Got news tips or story ideas about the border and its communities? josecastaneda@arizonarepublic.com Or connect with him on Twitter @joseicastaneda.
