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. INS’s Alien Address Records Are Not Reliable

Despite these laws and regulations, INS’s address information cannot be relied upon to locate many aliens who are in the United States. Those aliens who wish to remain illegally in the country would not likely comply as it could lead to their removal. Lack of Publicity, No Enforcement of Penalties, and Inadequate Processing Procedures Contribute to INS’s Unreliable Address 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 also likely that some aliens will not know about the requirement or may simply forget to file the forms. 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. 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. Attorneys on the numbers of nonimmigrants who were sought, had departed the country, or who were located and interviewed.
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.

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.