Declarations detail stories of alleged abuse and neglect in DHS immigration detention

Washington, DC — Human rights and immigration advocate groups asked a judge to issue a preliminary injunction to resume operations of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman Office, and Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, asking the court to immediately reopen the offices tasked with protecting the civil rights of people who interact with immigration enforcement officials.

The motion was filed in a lawsuit brought by Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC), and Urban Justice Center (UJC) – represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, Democracy Forward, and RFK Human Rights – against DHS and Secretary Kristi Noem. The lawsuit challenges the Trump administration’s decision in late March to abruptly shutter the three DHS oversight offices, which are mandated by the law establishing DHS. Congress created the three offices to protect the privacy interests and civil rights of individuals, and to report to Congress and the public about complaints to their offices.

In support of the motion, UJC, SBCC, and RFK Human Rights filed a series of declarations from immigrant advocates and lawyers describing the importance of these offices in raising and resolving allegations of civil and human rights violations experienced by those who interact with DHS or are detained by immigration and other law enforcement officials. 

“The illegal shuttering of these civil rights offices takes away key protections that Congress put in place to make sure the Department of Homeland Security follows the Constitution, and that people in immigration detention have a way to report unsafe conditions or abuse,” said Karla Gilbride, an attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group. “As Trump creates terror in immigrant communities across the country, immigrants and their advocates have been left without recourse to protect those whose rights are at risk. This is wildly dangerous, creating an atmosphere of impunity in a system already stretched to capacity. The court needs to act to restore the safeguards Congress created to hold the Department of Homeland Security accountable.” 

“The decimation of these offices does not make anyone’s lives better or safer — what it does is target the innocent and those who have been placed in vulnerable circumstances. The closure of these offices is part of the Trump administration’s targeting of immigrants in this country and weakening of protections and resources afforded to them,” said Skye Perryman, President & CEO of Democracy Forward. “We will continue to use every legal tool we have to protect people and our democracy.”

“In the first 100 days of the Trump administration, seven people have died in the custody of DHS police and detention centers. Countless others have been disappeared to isolated immigration detention centers far from family, legal counsel, and outside witnesses to their inhumane conditions of confinement,” said Anthony Enriquez, Vice President of U.S. Advocacy and Litigation at RFK Human Rights, both a plaintiff and counsel on the case. “Restoring congressionally mandated oversight of DHS is a necessary first step to ending human rights abuses endemic to immigration detention.”  

“Even before DHS shut down its oversight offices, Customs and Border Protection was one of the most unaccountable parts of the government,” said Lilian Serrano, Director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition. “Shutting down these oversight offices at a time when CBP continues to abuse migrants and border residents with impunity is unconscionable and dangerous. We refuse to accept the Trump Administration’s attempt to end accountability.”

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Democracy Forward is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.