DHS Shuts Down Office Overseeing Immigration Detention Oversight

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the closure of an independent office that investigated misconduct and handled complaints regarding safety, medical care and legal access in immigration detention facilities. The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman was established in 2019 to provide independent oversight of those facilities and recommend improvements.

Most of its employees were placed on leave last year.

DHS said on Wednesday that Congress was responsible for the closure. “DHS did not shut down the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman – Congress did,” a spokesperson for DHS said. The spokesperson cited an appropriations bill passed last week that funded most of DHS but excluded funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of Customs and Border Protection because of ongoing political gridlock.

Republican lawmakers are now attempting to provide three years of funding for ICE and parts of CBP through budget reconciliation, a procedural tool that would allow passage without Democratic support. Despite the lack of new appropriations, much of ICE has remained funded through prior legislation.

A DHS spokesperson did not respond to questions about why the independent office is not funded through existing legislation or whether it would be reinstated if Republicans successfully fund ICE through reconciliation.

An attorney with the Robert and Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center described the closure as an unlawful choice. The non-profit organization is currently suing the federal government over its intent to close three oversight offices within DHS, including the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman.

The closure occurs amid concerns from lawmakers and immigrant advocates about conditions in detention facilities.

As of last week, 49 people have died in ICE detention during the second Trump administration. That rise in fatalities coincides with a record-high detention population that currently stands at around 60,000 in federal immigration custody. “If there is no longer anybody that is watchdogging these agencies in order to ensure that these types of abuses aren't occurring, we're just going to see more of these abuses occur,” the attorney said.