To determine whether other current INS initiatives will allow identification of aliens arrested for aggravated felonies, we interviewed senior managers and information resource management (IRM) officials at INS headquarters and reviewed documentation pertaining to two initiatives—an INS identification system and a project between INS and the California Department of Justice. To determine whether criminal alien information in INS’ databases is complete and accurate, we focused our review on DACS, INS’ repository for information on identified criminal aliens. Of the 920 individuals, the Phoenix investigator estimated that between 5 and 10 percent (46 to 92) of the released aliens had been arrested for aggravated felonies—the population targeted by the mandate. Other INS Initiatives Offer Possibilities for Identifying Aliens Using Fingerprints

Two other INS initiatives use fingerprints as unique identifiers for aliens. Fingerprint information for an additional 20,254 criminal aliens was to be added to the criminal alien data set by August 1, 1995. In California, many individuals deported as criminal aliens reenter the country illegally after deportation and become repeat offenders. Conclusions

Identifying individuals arrested for aggravated felonies as aliens is critical to joint INS and LEA efforts to prevent the release of these individuals before INS can take action. Our draft stated only that INS is limited in its ability to take appropriate enforcement action against aliens who are arrested for aggravated felonies because of the lengthy time required by LESC to conduct the electronic search and by an INS investigator to conclusively identify the arrested individual as an alien. INS itself has acknowledged these same limitations and is, for this reason, developing IDENT, a fingerprint-based identification system to provide quick, accurate identification of individuals who will be processed for either enforcement or benefit purposes. It provides for queries based on biographical, classification, and citizenship data.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) initiatives for identifying arrested individuals that are aliens, focusing on whether: (1) the Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) can use existing databases to identify as aliens individuals arrested for aggravated felonies; (2) other INS initiatives will allow identification of aliens arrested for aggravated felonies; and (3) criminal alien information in two INS databases is complete and accurate.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) LESC allows law enforcement agencies continuous access to INS data, but LESC electronic searches cannot conclusively identify aliens arrested for aggravated felonies, since name-based data can be easily falsified; (2) LESC has initiated enforcement actions on 1,935 aliens, but released 920 additional aliens for various reasons; (3) at least 46 of the 920 aliens released had been arrested for aggravated felonies; (4) INS is planning to fully implement its INS Identification System in 1999 to provide a unique and effective identifier for aliens encountered for enforcement or benefit purposes, but it will include only known criminal aliens in INS databases; (5) INS has recently implemented an initiative to identify criminal aliens entering the country illegally, based on fingerprint data for criminal aliens deported from California; and (6) INS omitted important criminal alien information from certain databases, causing them to be incomplete and inaccurate.