Ryan J. Foley | Associated Press

An investigation has found that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies have wasted tens of millions of dollars pursuing uninformed plans to increase detention capacity, and the total will likely rise due to ongoing mismanagement. The U.S. Government Accountability Office report released Thursday documents costly problems with several initiatives ICE has pursued since President Donald Trump returned to office and ordered the mass detention and deportation of people who were in the country illegally.

The Associated Press found one new ICE hire had filed for bankruptcy twice and worked for six law enforcement agencies in three years. Another was accused of lying in a police report to justify a felony charge against an innocent woman. A third quit his only prior policing job after three weeks.

Investigators say one immigration official abused his girlfriend for years. Another admitted he sexually abused a woman in his custody. A third is charged with taking bribes. A review by The Associated Press found at least two dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees and contractors have been charged with crimes since 2020.

In the year since the deadly mass shooting at a Florida high school, more and more states have passed laws making it easier to take guns away from...