Homeland Security unit freezes spending until end of fiscal year

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau of the Homeland Security Department has ordered several of its offices to refrain from nonessential spending until the new fiscal year begins.

ICE employees learned of the restraints in a Sept. 3 notice from Michael Garcia, the agency's assistant secretary. In the notice, Garcia explained that despite recent efforts to save money, the agency needed to "take additional steps" to reduce expenses and stay within its fiscal 2004 budget.

"For the 27 days that remain in fiscal year 2004, I am directing that ICE divisions and programs stop obligating funds for all nonmission-essential, nonpayroll items," Garcia's message stated. Such items include travel, temporary duty assignments, equipment and supply purchases, and permanent change-of-station moves.

The Anti-Deficiency Act prohibits agencies from spending money in excess of their appropriations.

Garcia's order applies to three of ICE's six divisions: the Office of Investigations, Office of Intelligence, and Air and Marine Operations. The agency's Office of Detention and Removal Operations, the Federal Air Marshal Service and the Federal Protective Service received exemptions. Those divisions implemented separate cost-saving measures, the notice stated.

"In spite of these controls, our national security mission continues," said ICE spokesman Russ Knocke, on Friday.

The cost-saving measures won't lead to layoffs or furloughs, Garcia told employees in his message. "Our planes will continue to fly, our agents will continue working cases, our detention and removal functions will continue unabated and all divisions will continue their homeland security mission as before," he said.

Statistics show that ICE employees continue to make significant progress tracking down criminal aliens, targeting child sex predators, ensuring immigration law compliance, enhancing security at federal facilities and improving aviation security, Knocke said. For instance, as of July, ICE agents had removed 68,623 criminal aliens and 61,768 noncriminal aliens. In 2003 agents removed 77,623 criminal aliens and 67,520 noncriminals.

But Moira Whelan, a spokeswoman for Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee, said last week that "all indications point to the fact that [ICE is] still struggling" to gain control of finances. The full impact of the budget problems may not show right away, she added.

"What you're waiting for is the real effect," Whelan said. "You have to travel to be able to investigate."

A senior ICE customs special agent in New York City, who asked to remain anonymous, said travel isn't the only issue. "Agents are discouraged as far as getting new equipment and new protective gear," he said.

The end-of-the-year spending restrictions also hurt morale, the agent added. Employees become "demoralized" if they get the impression that their "bosses in D.C. are clueless [and] can't even balance a checkbook," he said.

ICE plans to lift the freeze on non-essential spending when the fiscal year ends next Friday. But the New York agent said he feels ICE has inherited "broken and flawed" financial management practices and will continue to experience budget problems.

As agencies merged to form the Homeland Security Department, officials had a difficult time figuring out where employees and responsibilities would reside and appropriately realigning funding. Largely because of those budget "mapping" troubles, ICE has experienced persistent accounting difficulties.

"These issues that we're confronting would be inherent to any merger," Knocke said. "We're making great progress."

Garcia noted in his Sept. 3 message that since January, ICE has already saved more than $120 million through such measures as restrictions on new hires and permanent change-of-station moves.