WASHINGTON — The Trump administration fired nearly the entire civil rights branch of the Department of Homeland Security on Friday, gutting a government office responsible for conducting oversight over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The more than 100 staff members were told they would be put on leave for 60 days to find another job in the administration or be fired in May, according to five current and former government officials. Trump also closed the ombudsman for Citizenship and Immigration Services, another office responsible for scrutinizing the administration’s legal immigration policies.

Rooting Out Civil Rights Divisions

The moves were the latest attempt by Trump to root out civil rights divisions and oversight mechanisms across government agencies. But the shuttering of the Homeland Security Department’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties was particularly notable given the lack of transparency over the administration’s immigration crackdown.

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.

Just this week, the Trump administration stonewalled a federal judge seeking information about the use of an 18th century wartime law to deport immigrants with little to no due process to a prison in El Salvador.

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Criticism and Concerns

“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.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Homeland Security Department, 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.”

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Impact on Oversight and Investigations

The office investigates allegations from migrants, their families and the public.

In one example, in 2021, the office investigated the Trump administration’s use of the Remain in Mexico policy, which forced migrants to wait in Mexico until the date of their immigration court appearance.

The final report found that the administration had placed unaccompanied children and people with mental health and other medical issues into the program.

The civil rights office also conducted oversight of the other agencies under the Homeland Security Department, including the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Hamed Aleaziz, Adam Goldman and Eileen Sullivan/Haiyun Jiang
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