DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Office of Inspector General (U) The Removal of a Canadian Citizen to Syria Derived from: Multiple Sources Declassify On: 20300114 OIG-08-18 March 2008Office of Inspector General U.S. Department of Homeland Security Washington, DC 20528 y) Homeland Security (U) Preface (U) The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (OIG) was established by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296) by amendment to the Inspector General Act of 1978, This is one of a series of audit, inspection, and special reports prepared as part of our oversight responsibilities to promote economy, effectiveness, and efficiency within the department. (U) This report assesses the processes and procedures used by U.S. immigration officials to deny Maher Arar admission to the United States and subsequently remove him to Syria. It is based on interviews with employees and officials of relevant agencies and institutions and a review of applicable documents. (U) The recommendations herein have been developed to the best knowledge available to our office, and have been discussed in draft with those responsible for implementation. It is our hope that this report will result in more effective, efficient, and economical operations. We express our appreciation to all of those who contributed to the preparation of this report. CK, Berne Richard L. Skinner Inspector General Page 1 of S2SECRETHNOFORN (U) Table of Contents/Abbreviations (U) Executive Summary. (U) Background (U) Maher Arar. (U) Federal Court Ruling... (U) Results of Review. (U) Inadmissibility Determination. (U) Country Designation Proces: (U) Convention Against Torture Assessment. (U) Management Comments and OIG Analysi 31 (U) Appendices (U) Appendix A: Purpose, Scope, and Methodology... (U) Appendix B: Management Response to Draft Report.. (U) Appendix C: U.S. Representative John Conyers’ Letter. Al (U) Appendix D: Letter from DHS OIG to Congress Discussing Interim Status of the Review... . oA (U) Appendix E: Joint Memorandum Regarding Treatment of Privileged Information in Arar v. Ashcroft, et al. averecanncesees (U) Appendix F; Major Contributors to this Repor (U) Appendix G: Report Distribution.. Page 2 of 52 SECRET/NOFORN