DHS closes office of immigration detention watchdog
The office had investigated complaints and inspected detention facilities as deaths in ICE custody topped 30 last year, according to Reuters.
- On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security began shuttering the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman after an internal email directed removal of public signage and cessation of inspections.
- The administration attributed the closure to lack of funding in the Homeland Security appropriations package that ended the agency's 76-day shutdown, though critics argue the legislation does not explicitly mandate eliminating the watchdog.
- Deaths in ICE custody exceeded 30 last year, the highest since 2004, and more than 780 instances of physical force or chemical agents against detainees occurred since Trump returned to the White House.
- Staffing at the ombudsman's office fell to just five employees earlier this year, marking a 96 percent reduction, while the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties also faced similar resource cuts.
- Adam Isaacson of the Washington Office on Latin America said the closure reflects a strategy to pressure migrants into abandoning legal cases by ensuring detention conditions are "miserable" as capacity expands to nearly 100,000 people.
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17 Articles
Department of Nacinal Security closes the Office of the Ombudsman for the Detention of Immigrants
Human Rights Concerns Grow As Trump Administration Closes Watchdog Monitoring Federal Immigration Detention Abuses
The Trump administration has triggered a human rights firestorm after quietly mothballing the federal watchdog responsible for monitoring abuses within the US immigration system. The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, once a critical line of defence against misconduct, has seen its official presence reduced to 'archived content' on government servers. This move comes at a catastrophic moment for the agency, with internal reports indi…
DHS Shuts Down Its Immigration Detention Watchdog
Stephen Smith/APThe Department of Homeland Security confirmed Tuesday that it has shut down an office dedicated to exposing misconduct at immigration detention facilities.A spokesperson for DHS argued that the closure was mandated by Congress in recently passed legislation to fund the department. The bill in question, however, did not mention the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, and it remains unclear what measure the spokesperson …
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