DHS blames funding lapse for shutdown of internal detention oversight

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stand near a gate at Delaney Hall, an immigrant detention center in Newark, N.J., in May 2025. Timothy A. Clary/AFP via hide caption toggle caption Timothy A. Clary/AFP via The internal Department of Homeland Security office that oversees detention facilities and conditions is winding down its operations — even as the administration places more people in detention, and for longer stints. Congress created the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO) in 2019 to investigate detainee deaths, detainee access to medical care, and employee misconduct, among other issues. In a statement to NPR, DHS said the office shut down because of the current funding lapse in Congress targeting immigration enforcement. Congress last week finally ended the longest agency shutdown in U.S. history, agreeing to fund most parts of DHS — but excluding some immigration enforcement functions. "DHS did not shut down the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman—Congress did," DHS said in a statement to NPR. "The House passed the DHS appropriations bill without objection, and it was signed into law last week." DHS has already archived several pages on its website regarding OIDO . But the measure passed by Congress and signed by President Trump to fund most parts of DHS did not mandate the closing of the office . …