Avenues for Sending Official Complaints to the INS

The INS has established complaint procedures whereby individuals can report incidents of misconduct, mistreatment, or allegations of abuse, fraud, waste, or mismanagement.  These complaint procedures are particularly useful for clients who want to report abusive treatment during Special Registration or while crossing the border.  Official complaints will help raise the INS' awareness of abuses/ill treatment that occur during the Special Registration and at the border and give mistreated foreign nationals a chance to voice their grievances.  These complaints, taken together, will aid AILA’s advocacy work with Congress, the INS, and the new Department of Homeland Security.

Please forward copies of the complaint to Joanna Carson at jcarson@aila.org so that we can monitor them for advocacy purposes.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact Joanna Carson at 202-216-2408. 

Office of the Inspector General

Complaints must be made in writing.  The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) does not make any statements as to the confidentiality of its complaint procedure.  Furthermore, the OIG does not guarantee that each case will be investigated. 

Address:  

Office of the Inspector General
US Department of Justice
Investigations Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Room 4706
Washington, DC 20530

Fax:   (202)-616-9898
e-mail:  oig.hotline@usdoj.gov
phone:   1-800-869-4499*

*This hotline provides OIG address information in either English or Spanish.  Complaints cannot be registered  over the phone.

INS Office of Internal Audit

Complaints will only be accepted via the mail.  The Office of Internal Audit (OIA) states that it will keep complaints confidential unless disclosure is unavoidable in a legal or administrative proceeding.  It also states that there is no retaliation for submitting a complaint.  That having been said, attorneys should still inform their clients who are in undocumented status or otherwise compromised status of the potential risks of registering complaints.

Address:  
Director, Office of Internal Audit
US Immigration and Naturalization Service
425 I St., NW
Room 3260
Washington, DC 20536