On March 21, 2025, Bloomberg Law reported that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was dismantling its Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), as well as cutting staff at the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, and in the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman. With these moves, in practice, all three offices will cease to function.

CRCL is an internal office at DHS that investigates complaints from the public alleging violations of civil rights and civil liberties in DHS activities, including with respect to in immigration enforcement and discrimination, and which scrutinizes the administration’s immigration policies. More than 100 employees at CRCL are losing their jobs.

The Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman helps members of the public resolve problems with immigration benefits, and the Immigration Detention Ombudsman conducts oversight on conditions at immigration detention centers. A spokesperson for DHS issued a statement saying that the decisions were made to “streamline oversight to remove roadblocks to enforcement,” and that “[t]hese offices have obstructed immigration enforcement by adding bureaucratic hurdles and undermining DHS’s mission.” 

Impact: All three offices have received complaints from the public and have investigated the immigration policies of both Democratic and Republican administrations over the years, including the first Trump administration. Without them, there will be no internal watchdog offices left at DHS to assess the legality and effectiveness of, and problems with, the implementation of Trump administration policies on immigration enforcement.