Summary: GAO examined the Immigration and Naturalization Service's (INS) financial management systems, operations, and controls.
GAO found that: (1) INS lacked the systems and procedures to ensure the collection, accountability, control, and deposit of millions of dollars in revenue and debts; (2) INS debt management problems stemmed from inaccurate financial data, unreliable financial systems, insufficient internal controls, lack of coordination among district offices, and low priority on financial management; (3) district offices did not adhere to INS cash management procedures for depositing receipts; (4) INS lost large amounts of fee revenue because of checks returned for insufficient funds; (5) INS did not maintain complete records essential for supporting its debt collection efforts; (6) incomplete files and low management priority made INS collection of breached surety bonds more difficult; (7) INS ineffectively directed the design and implementation of an INS-wide debt management system; (8) financial management problems severely affected INS ability to effectively manage and accurately report the results of its program and administrative operations; (9) INS lacked effective controls over fund balances, and its financial reports did not accurately reflect its financial condition or provide reliable financial information; (10) coding errors, lack of reconciliations between the primary and subsidiary accounting systems, and data entry backlogs contributed to the inaccuracies in reports generated by the primary accounting system; and (11) INS did not report all of its internal control and accounting weaknesses to the President or Congress.
