Immigrant Detention Watchdog Shutdown Leaves Detainees Vulnerable Amid Rising Abuse

The US government has quietly closed the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman—the sole independent watchdog mandated to investigate abuse, coercion, and exploitation in immigration detention centers. This shutdown comes amid a surge in reported use of force against detainees and worsening conditions inside a sprawling and increasingly punitive detention system.

An internal email obtained by HuffPost attributes the closure to funding shortfalls in the Homeland Security appropriations bill. However, the bill itself contains no language requiring the office’s shutdown. By late 2024, the ombudsman’s staff had already been slashed by 96 percent, down to just five employees. Now the office is gone entirely, and its public complaints website has been taken offline, leaving tens of thousands of detainees with no formal avenue to report abuses.

This loss of oversight could not come at a worse time. The detention population has reached a record high of 73,000 people, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) planning to expand capacity to 99,000 by 2027. Meanwhile, documented use of force incidents have surged 54 percent compared to the previous year, with at least 1,330 detainees subjected to physical or chemical force such as pepper spray. These measures are often deployed in response to hunger strikes or detainees requesting basic rights like water and medical care.

The human toll is staggering. More than 30 people died in ICE detention in 2025—the deadliest year in over twenty years—with at least 18 deaths already reported this year. Conditions inside detention centers continue to deteriorate, with lawsuits and advocacy groups describing unsanitary facilities, rampant disease outbreaks, inadequate medical care, and restricted access to legal counsel.

Though ICE claims these centers are “non-punitive,” many rely on tactics and infrastructure borrowed from criminal prisons. Private prison corporations, led by GEO Group—the largest ICE contractor—run many facilities. GEO pays detainees as little as one dollar per day for essential labor like cooking and laundry, while charging exorbitant prices for basic hygiene items such as toothpaste. Detainees who refuse forced labor face solitary confinement, loss of phone privileges, and retaliation that can jeopardize their immigration cases.

The closure of the ombudsman’s office removes the only independent mechanism for detainees and their families to file complaints about these abuses. Advocates warn this move is part of a broader strategy to wear down asylum seekers and immigrants by making detention conditions as miserable and punitive as possible, pushing them to give up their legal claims.

With no official oversight, public pressure is more crucial than ever. Organizations like Freedom United are calling on GEO Group to end forced labor practices in detention centers. Adding your voice to these campaigns sends a clear message that profiting from coerced labor behind closed doors is unacceptable.

The shuttering of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman is a stark reminder that without transparency and accountability, abuse flourishes in the shadows—and the lives and rights of tens of thousands of detainees hang in the balance.