WASHINGTON — The Trump administration shut down three watchdog agencies in the Department of Homeland Security on Friday, gutting the offices responsible for conducting oversight of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The cuts affect the civil rights branch of DHS and two ombudsman offices: one overseeing immigration detention and another responsible for scrutinizing the administration’s legal immigration policies, according to five current and former government officials. More than 100 people at the civil rights office alone are losing their jobs.
The move comes as the Trump administration ramps up its deportation campaign, in some cases removing people from the country with little to no due process. Trump has been trying to root out oversight mechanisms across government agencies, but targeting DHS was notable given the lack of transparency over the crackdown.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the DHS, said the decision was meant to “streamline oversight to remove roadblocks to enforcement.”
“These offices have obstructed immigration enforcement by adding bureaucratic hurdles and undermining DHS’ mission,” McLaughlin said. “Rather than supporting law enforcement efforts, they often function as internal adversaries that slow down operations.”
Critics say it’s an attempt to sidestep any scrutiny.
“It’s a demonstration of their total contempt for any checks on their power,” said Deborah Fleischaker, a former civil rights office worker and chief of staff of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the Biden administration. She said the office “endeavored to make the DHS mission work with respect for civil rights, civil liberties and privacy.”
“This is a clear message that those things do not matter to this administration,” she added.
The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the two ombudsman offices, which were responsible for investigating allegations from migrants, their families and the public, have looked into Trump’s immigration policies over the years.
One such investigation during Trump’s first term investigated his use of the Remain in Mexico policy, which forced migrants to wait in Mexico until their court appearance.
The final report in 2021 found that the administration had placed unaccompanied children and people with mental health and other medical issues into the program. By the time the report was released, Trump was out of office and the program had been rescinded.
The civil rights office also conducted oversight of the other agencies under the DHS, including the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The cuts come as the administration pursues large-scale job cuts in a “reduction in force.” The effort to eliminate government offices has been led by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, said the mass firing at the DHS was an attempt to ensure “that there will be no transparency or oversight of his extreme agenda.”
The Trump administration has faced scrutiny for evading oversight more broadly in recent weeks, including from the judiciary branch.
At a hearing Friday afternoon, a federal judge vowed to press on in determining whether the Trump administration violated his initial order stopping deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, an obscure law from 1798.
“The government is not being terribly cooperative at this point,” Judge James E. Boasberg said, “but I will get to the bottom of whether they violated my order and who was responsible.”
Trump has been determined in his second term to ensure that his administration is made of up of loyalists who will not try to block his agenda. He has called for Boasberg to be impeached.