Trump Administration to Close Watchdog Office for Federal Immigration Detention Abuses
Kanishka Singh Reuters
Leqaa Kordia shouts slogans calling for freedom for Palestinians outside City Hall after speaking to the media, following her return home after more than one year in ICE detention in Texas, at City Hall, Paterson, New Jersey, U.S., March 22, 2026.(photo: ) Trump Administration to Close Watchdog Office for Federal Immigration Detention Abuses
Kanishka Singh ReutersHere are some details:
- The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, which was gutted last year when Trump targeted oversight offices, is now being closed, the Department of Homeland Security said.
- "DHS did not shut down the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman - Congress did. The House passed the DHS appropriations bill without objection, and it was signed into law last week," the DHS said.
- The bill, opens new tab
that ended a long DHS shutdown did not mandate the office's closure, first reported by the HuffPost.
- The office reviewed abuse and misconduct in the immigration detention system. Its page on DHS's website appeared as "Archived Content" on Tuesday.
- Trump has cracked down on immigration.
- Trump says his immigration crackdown aims to improve domestic security and curb illegal immigration.
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions and Trump's deportation drive have been condemned by human-rights advocates.
- Rights groups say such actions violate due process and free speech and create an unsafe environment, particularly for minorities.
- Rights advocates have raised concerns about ICE detention conditions.
- At least 18 deaths have been reported in ICE custody through the first four months of 2026, following 31 deaths last year, a two-decade high.
- Detention cases that sparked criticism from rights groups were the one-year detention of Palestinian American woman Leqaa Kordia, who suffered a seizure in detention and said she was chained during hospitalization.
- Another such case was the detention of Hayam El Gamal and her five children aged 5 to 18, who each reported health deterioration.
- Kordia, who lost 175 family members during Israel's assault on Gaza, and the El Gamal family, have been released.
- The government denies mistreatment, saying detainees are allowed medical care and due process.