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 DHS IG names director for DHS Ops at joint FBI-DHS border corruption task force

The creation of the task force itself and Ryan’s appointment to it are part of a larger federal effort to attack the burgeoning border corruption problem, on which at least two congressional subcommittees have focused recently.

By Louis Chunovic

April 6, 2010

DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner has named John Ryan to the newly created position of director for DHS operations at the joint FBI-DHS Border Corruption Task Force.

Ryan’s appointment, which takes effect immediately, “underscores the Inspector General's commitment to aggressively attack the issue of corruption at our nation's borders and to eliminate corruption within the ranks of DHS employees,” according to a DHS IG statement.

Ryan will report directly to the Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations for Field Operations, working to coordinate DHS assets committed to the task force.

The creation of the task force itself and Ryan’s appointment to it are part of a larger federal effort to attack the burgeoning border corruption problem, on which at least two congressional subcommittees have focused recently.

“The FBI recognizes that fighting public corruption is vital to preserving our democracy, protecting our borders, and securing our communities,” Kevin Perkinsassistant director, of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, said recently, in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration. “Because the interests at stake are so important and the magnitude of the problem so great, we have deployed approximately 700 agents to fight corruption around the country. The Southwest border is a particular focus of our corruption-fighting efforts. Of the 700 agents leading our charge against public corruption, approximately 120 are working along the Southwest border.”

And Thomas Frost, the DHS assistant inspector general for investigations, recently told the same subcommittee,“Border related corruption is not limited to one DHS component, but, unfortunately, could involve employees and contractors from across DHS, from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) and others.”

In fiscal year 2009, Frost said, the DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) received “about 12,458 allegations of fraud and initiated over 1,085 investigations.”

Those investigations led to 313 arrests, 293 indictments, 281 convictions and 59 administrative actions, as well as more than $85.7 million in fines, restitutions and administrative cost savings and recoveries, he noted.

When it comes to employee corruption on the border, since 2003, “we have made 129 arrests of corrupt Customs and Border Protection Officers and Border Patrol Agents. In FY 2009, we opened 839 allegations involving DHS employees,” Frost said.

Although the DHS IG appointment announcement did not include any biographical details for Ryan, a recent report from the DHS Office of the Inspector General does list him in an appendix as one of three OIG directors who contributed to it.

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Author at: Louis Chunovic

Article at: http://www.gsnmagazine.com/article/20429/dhs_ig_names_director_dhs_ops_joint_fbi_dhs_border#node-20429