AILA Executive Director Warns of Due Process and Rights Abuses with Trump Gutting of Oversight Agencies

Washington, DC – Recently, the Trump Administration took steps to eliminate three important oversight bodies vital to the effective and accountable operation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS): the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, and the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO). American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Executive Director Ben Johnson warned that these actions will weaken DHS and result in further abuses and unchecked exercise of power by the current administration:

“It is clear why the Trump Administration wishes to remove oversight functions at DHS: they don’t want to be held accountable for the growing number of abuses and unjust treatment of immigrants or for the administration’s inability to run an efficient legal immigration system. The USCIS Ombudsman plays a vital oversight role that benefits U.S. employers and American families who have filed tens of thousands of requests for assistance annually with the Ombudsman. Congress created the Ombudsman office and charged it with helping people navigate the complex immigration system. Without the Ombudsman, employers and family members will be stuck for months and years with no one to assist them. CRCL is mandated by Congress to investigate complaints of abuse and civil rights violations, and AILA has relied upon CRCL to play this vital role when AILA’s attorneys have observed inhumane and abusive treatment of mothers and children in family detention as well as in other cases involving grave, life-threatening concerns. Finally, the OIDO, established by Congress during the first Trump Administration, ensures that people in immigration detention, who are frequently awaiting decisions on asylum or other cases, are given adequate health care, have proper diets and nutrition, and are treated humanely. Only by shining light on inefficiency and abuse can problems be rectified. The termination of these important, statutorily-established offices is a clear violation of a Congressional mandate. The President cannot continue to ignore what the law requires.”