The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman is shutting down due to a funding lapse, despite increasing detention numbers. This office was established to oversee conditions in detention facilities and investigate various issues related to detainees.
Key points
DHS's oversight office is shutting down due to funding issues.
The office was responsible for investigating detainee conditions.
Detention numbers are increasing despite the shutdown.
The office was created in 2019 by Congress.
Mentioned in this story
Department of Homeland SecurityOffice of Immigration Detention Ombudsman
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stand near a gate at Delaney Hall, an immigrant detention center in Newark, N.J., in May 2025.
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 Getty Images
Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images
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.
Q&A
Why is the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman shutting down?
The Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman is shutting down due to a funding lapse.
What was the purpose of the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman?
The office was created to investigate detainee deaths, access to medical care, and employee misconduct in detention facilities.
How has the detention population changed recently?
The administration is placing more people in detention and for longer periods, even as oversight operations are winding down.
When was the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman established?
The Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman was established by Congress in 2019.
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This map, created with overnment data provided by ICE in response to a FOIA request by the Deportation Data Project and analyzed by NPR, shows book-ins at facilities across the country between Jan. 20 and mid-October 2025.
"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."
Republicans are separately looking at a partisan process known as reconciliation to fund all of DHS, including ICE and Border Patrol, for the remainder of Trump's term without any Democratic support. It is not clear if OIDO would reopen if ICE and Border Patrol are funded.
Even before the shutdown, the Trump administration had been stripping down the office's functions and laying off staff in civil rights areas. That comes as the number of people who have died in immigration custody has reached an all-time high for the fiscal year.
DHS officials have argued the rising death count is due to the higher number of people in custody.
Immigration advocates say that oversight is particularly needed to prevent abuses and deaths. And they say the funding lapse shouldn't have affected the ombudsman's office since it's separate from ICE and Customs and Border Protection.
"Congress established OIDO to address the systematic record of abuse and medical mistreatment people have suffered in immigration detention," said Jennifer Ibañez Whitlock, senior policy council at the National Immigration Law Center, a legal advocacy group.
"Congress was clear that this office was established to be independent from ICE and CBP and to provide redress to people in detention when DHS officials or contractors engaged in misconduct or violated their rights."
The Trump administration had earlier cut hundreds of staff in some congressionally mandated oversight offices, including OIDO, in order to save money and because DHS argued they were "internal adversaries that slow down operations."
In fact, OIDO only had five employees at the start of the year — down from over 100 at the start of 2025. Ronald Sartini, acting deputy immigration detention ombudsman for OIDO, shared those figures in a declaration filed in court.
Democrats say such internal oversight is particularly needed to prevent overcrowding in detention facilities, and delays in reporting detention deaths — especially during agency shutdowns. During the government shutdown in fall of last year, DHS said that immigration oversight officers were not working.
OIDO had reviewed every report on deaths in custody and inspected detention facilities. Without it, ICE detention violations could go unreported and unresolved as offices, former employees have warned.
The closing of the office comes as the administration continues to scale up its detention capacity, and also implemented a policy that mandates the detention of anyone who entered the country illegally while they fight their deportation in court.
The policy has resulted in cases of prolonged detention: In the last six months, for example, the number of people who have been in ICE detention for more than a year has nearly doubled, to over 2,100 people.
