NCJ Number
183837
Date Published
2000
Length
36 pages
Annotation
This report by the General Accounting Office (GAO) indicates that alien smuggling is a significant and growing problem in the United States; although it is likely that most smuggled aliens come into the country to pursue employment opportunities, some are smuggled as part of criminal or terrorist enterprises that can pose a serious threat to U.S. national security.
Abstract
The report examines the nature and extent of alien smuggling into the United States, the strategy of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for combating alien smuggling, and how well the INS strategy has been implemented. INS data indicate that alien smuggling has increased over the past 2 years, and the INS predicts smuggling will continue to grow. The 1997 anti-smuggling strategy of the INS contains domestic and international components. The domestic component calls for INS to focus its investigations on major smuggling operations and for INS field units to coordinate their activities and share intelligence with each other. As part of the domestic component, the strategy calls for INS intelligence to optimize its ability to collect, analyze, and disseminate information to identify enforcement targets and to help focus INS anti-smuggling resources on efforts that will have the greatest impact. In reviewing the INS strategy, the GAO found a lack of program coordination, the absence of an automated case tracking and management system, and limited performance measures. The GAO determined the INS must improve its investigations and intelligence programs or the ability of the INS to disrupt and deter increasingly sophisticated and organized alien smugglers will continue to be hampered. Specific recommendations are offered to improve INS anti-smuggling activities. 21 footnotes and 2 figures