The Department of Homeland Security is eliminating three of its watchdog agencies that it said “obstructed immigration enforcement by adding bureaucratic hurdles and undermining” the department’s mission.
The cuts came as DHS and other federal departments are working to abide by President Donald Trump’s directions for broad reductions in force and reorganizations.
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told The Washington Post on Friday that the agency has ordered a “reduction in force” for the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, and the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman. Employees will be terminated within 60 days if they do not find another assignment inside the department.
The agencies had a total of 300 out of the department’s 260,000 workers, according to the Post. They managed thousands of complaints about the immigration system, including detention conditions, care of migrant children and delays in processing green cards and citizenship applications. In their annual reports, the agencies said they provided vital oversight that affected U.S. citizens and immigrants alike and responded to complaints that DHS had not resolved.
The budget and workforce for the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties reportedly ballooned significantly in the past few years. In the 2019 fiscal year, the budget was $27 million with 97 employees. In the 2023 fiscal year, the budget grew to nearly $46 million and there were 144 employees. Congress has since reduced the annual budget to $43 million.
Democrat Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Gary Peters of Michigan wrote a letter March 13 to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem expressing concerns about any reduction in force for the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which was created by Congress along with the DHS in 2002 following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“A decision to eliminate the CRCL office or make significant reductions in CRCL staff will jeopardize DHS’s ability to comply with statutory requirements and to protect the civil rights and civil liberties of the American people,” the senators wrote.
McLaughlin told the Post DHS remains committed to “civil rights protections but must streamline oversight to remove roadblocks to enforcement.”
“These reductions ensure taxpayer dollars support the Department’s core mission: border security and immigration enforcement,” McLaughlin said, adding the three offices “have obstructed immigration enforcement by adding bureaucratic hurdles and undermining DHS’s mission.”
“Rather than supporting law enforcement efforts, they often function as internal adversaries that slow down operations,” she said.
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