By GINGER THOMPSON

WASHINGTON — An immigration policy group said Wednesday that the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration mission has been undermined by wasteful spending along the southern border, law enforcement efforts that focused on snaring illegal workers rather than high-risk criminals, and an often hostile bureaucracy that discourages people eligible for legal entry from playing by the rules.

A new report, largely a portrait of dysfunction, comes when President Obama faces increasing pressure from Hispanic groups, who played a critical role in his election, to break with the aggressive immigration enforcement strategies of the Bush administration. Those groups have called on the president to push for comprehensive legislation that balances law enforcement with the opening of new legal pathways to citizenship.

In its report, the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute cautioned that such legislative action remained “politically complex and sensitive,” an assessment that came after discussions with high-level immigration officials who served under either President Bill Clinton or President George W. Bush or are now working in Mr. Obama’s administration. The report reflects the views of its authors.

The report’s authors offered 36 recommendations that they said would allow the new administration to deliver on its promise to make change without being forced into a politically costly fight in Congress.

For example, the report calls on the Department of Homeland Security to suspend the construction of a security fence along the Mexican border, which the Government Accountability Office found has cost nearly $4 million per mile, until a review can be made of its effectiveness in preventing illegal crossings, as well as its impact on the environment, commerce and relations among border communities.

The report also recommends that the Homeland Security Department rely less on workplace raids and favors expanding employment verification systems.

“Not only are we not talking about comprehensive immigration reform, we are not talking about anything that requires further restructuring,” said Doris Meissner, an author of the report and former commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

During his campaign, Mr. Obama promised Hispanic groups that he would push for comprehensive changes in immigration policy, and he named a team to work on the topic during the transition. Two weeks ago, the homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, issued a directive calling for a broad review of immigration policies that touched on many of the concerns raised by the report released Wednesday.

A Hispanic leader close to the transition immigration team said that its discussions had been “vigorous,” with several aides warning the president that the recession had made immigration an even thornier issue, and others arguing that no plan for economic recovery would work in the long term if it did not include laws to regulate the status of some 12 million illegal workers.

“The conventional wisdom is that the economy makes this a difficult issue,” said Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza. “I think there’s also some countervailing wisdom that says how can you have a debate on jobs without talking about the 12 million people who are here without documents?”