DHS Watchdog Halts Key Immigration Probes as Shutdown Drags On

The Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog has effectively hit the brakes on critical investigations amid the partial government shutdown now entering its eighth week. Roughly 85 percent of the DHS inspector general’s audits and reviews are on hold, including probes into no-bid contracts, ICE detention facility conditions, and allegations of excessive force in immigration enforcement, according to DHS and administration officials.

This shutdown-driven pause is a dangerous development at a time when ICE continues its aggressive deportation operations, fueled by a massive $75 billion funding boost from a tax and spending bill signed by former President Trump last year. The lack of oversight means that troubling issues—such as deteriorating detention conditions, civil rights violations, and fatal shootings by immigration officers—are going unchecked.

The inspector general’s office, led by Joseph Cuffari, one of the few Cabinet-level watchdogs retained after Trump took office, has furloughed 60 percent of its workforce. Only essential staff working on criminal investigations or projects funded outside the annual budget remain active. Even ongoing criminal probes into controversial DHS contracts, including a $220 million advertising campaign involving former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, are stalled as investigators go unpaid.

Democrats have repeatedly demanded changes to immigration enforcement tactics and greater transparency as conditions in detention centers worsen and civil rights concerns mount. Yet the shutdown has crippled the very office tasked with holding DHS accountable. The inspector general’s office is currently managing hundreds of investigations and audits but is hamstrung by the funding freeze.

Meanwhile, the White House’s latest budget proposal calls for a $22 million cut to the DHS inspector general’s office, threatening to weaken oversight further.

This shutdown-induced oversight blackout exposes a troubling pattern: as the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies escalate, the mechanisms for accountability and transparency are being systematically dismantled. Without urgent action to end the shutdown and restore funding, abuses at DHS and ICE risk spiraling out of control with no one left to stop them.