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A federal audit found ICE relied on migrants to report as directed after CBP paroled about 2.4 million people at the southwest border from October 2018 through May 2025.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not been able to fully monitor millions of migrants paroled into the United States because Customs and Border Protection did not provide ICE with readily accessible parole-status data, according to findings cited in a Judicial Watch report and detailed in a Government Accountability Office audit.
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The GAO, Congress’ investigative arm, reviewed parole activity at the southwest border from October 2018 through May 2025 and found that CBP granted humanitarian parole to about 2.4 million migrants during that period. The audit said the parole expansion occurred as CBP faced about 10.4 million migrant encounters along the southwest border.
Once migrants were paroled into the country, ICE was responsible for monitoring them and making sure they followed release conditions. But the audit found that ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations was not conducting required monitoring for all migrants paroled by CBP at the southwest border.
The central problem, according to the GAO, was a data gap between two Department of Homeland Security agencies. CBP processed and paroled the migrants, but ICE did not have the information needed in its own systems to quickly identify all of the people it was supposed to monitor.
The audit said ICE ERO relied on what amounted to an “honor system” for paroled migrants to report to field offices as required. Congressional investigators found that system was ineffective because not all parolees reported at least once per year.
The report said CBP used humanitarian parole more broadly to manage large numbers of migrants crossing the border, particularly when immigration detention space was limited. Under the Biden administration, CBP authorized agents to parole apprehended migrants on a case-by-case basis under certain conditions. The administration later expanded access through the CBP One mobile application, which the GAO found resulted in parole approval for 97% of applicants.
“Once noncitizens are paroled at the southwest border, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is responsible for monitoring them to ensure they adhere to the conditions of their release,” the GAO report stated.
DHS and ICE issued guidance last year emphasizing the importance of reviewing parole cases to decide whether additional enforcement action was warranted. But GAO investigators found ICE was not positioned to carry out that responsibility because it lacked immediate access to parole-status information.
“Although DHS and ICE guidance emphasizes the importance of ICE’s monitoring and enforcement efforts for paroled noncitizens, ICE is not well-positioned to carry out these responsibilities because it does not have readily accessible information about noncitizens’ parole status,” the report stated.
The audit said ICE receives information from CBP on migrants placed in removal proceedings, but that information does not include parole status for those who should be monitored. That includes migrants whose parole was terminated by CBP through notices issued in April 2025.
“According to ICE officials, while ICE obtains information from CBP on noncitizens it places in removal proceedings, this information does not include the parole status of noncitizens who should be monitored, including those whose parole was terminated by CBP through the April 2025 notices,” the report stated.
The GAO found that CBP systems contain data fields with accessible parole-status information, while ICE ERO headquarters officials said ICE’s internal systems do not have those specific fields. As a result, ICE lacked access to information needed to track and enforce parole conditions for some migrants.
The audit said more than half of the migrants paroled by CBP during the review period came from Mexico, Cuba and Venezuela. It also said many of the migrants had criminal records.
In 2024, ICE lost track of about 70% of migrants paroled by CBP, according to the report. The audit did not make clear what efforts were underway to locate those individuals in communities across the United States.
The Trump administration has moved to reduce illegal immigration and, last spring, directed DHS to review parole cases and terminate the temporary status of about 654,000 migrants. But the GAO found that locating those migrants remained difficult because ICE still lacked the parole-status data needed to identify and monitor them.
The findings point to a long-running breakdown inside DHS involving two major agencies with related border and immigration duties. CBP is responsible for frontline border operations, while ICE is responsible for enforcing immigration laws and monitoring migrants released into the country under specific conditions.
The audit concluded that without better data sharing and system access, ICE will continue to face difficulty tracking migrants paroled by CBP and enforcing the terms of their release.
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