By U.S. Government Accountability Office; Christopher P. Currie

Federal whistleblowers are critical to fighting fraud, waste, and abuse in the government. However, they risk retaliation, such as demotion and firing.

We examined how the Department of Homeland Security handles whistleblower retaliation complaints. We found that DHS's timeliness is a problem that could undermine whistleblowers' confidence in their
protections.

DHS took more than 3 years to investigate the majority of retaliation cases. When cases are substantiated, the Secretary of DHS should decide whether and how to address them within 30 days. But cases. awaited decisions for another 4 months to over 2 years.

By U.S. Government Accountability Office; Rebecca S. Gambler

Customs and Border Protection can grant parole to noncitizens, giving them temporary permission to stay in the United States. CBP granted roughly 2.4 million paroles at the southwest border from late 2018 through May 2025.

Once parole is granted, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is supposed to monitor them to make sure they follow release requirements, like attending immigration court proceedings. But ICE doesn’t readily have information to identify people who were paroled at the southwest border and doesn’t monitor them as required.