Former oversight officials alarmed by dismantling of DHS system that oversees complaints about civil rights harms
The federal watchdog system at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that oversees complaints about civil rights violations, including in immigration detention, has been gutted so thoroughly that it could be laying the groundwork for the Trump administration to “abuse people with impunity”, experts warn.
Former federal oversight officials have sounded the alarm at the rapid dismantling of guardrails against human rights failures – at the same time as the government pushes aggressive immigration enforcement operations.
A group of fired watchdogs has filed a whistleblower complaint to Congress through the Government Accountability Project (GAP), and a coalition of human rights organizations sued the administration, demanding the employees be reinstated. There is deepening concern that a system of oversight that was already weak is now hanging by a thread, even as criticism surges over treatment of detainees in the ballooning immigration jail network.
“They want to be able to abuse people with impunity,” said Anthony Enriquez, vice-president of US advocacy and litigation at the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights advocacy group based in Washington, which is representing the group suing the government.
