Report Requested by McCaskill Shows 'Pervasive Waste' of $4.6 million at Customs and Border Protection
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today released the following statement after a report she requested from the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General (DHS IG) showed U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) failed to follow good business practices and paid at least $4.6 million more than it should have for employee housing in Ajo, Ariz.:
This audit shows an extremely troubling and pervasive waste of taxpayer dollars and a failure to effectively manage what should have been a basic project. I’m thankful someone came forward to blow the whistle on this project—whistleblowers are critical in our efforts to guard against this kind of waste and misconduct in government—and I look forward to working with the Department on how we can better manage housing efforts for our hardworking agents at the southern border.
McCaskill, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight, requested the audit from DHS after being contacted by a whistleblower. The audit found that CBP paid an average of $680,000 each to build 21 single-family homes in Ajo, where home prices average $86,500. The units are for CBP employees stationed on and near the U.S.-Mexico border.