EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – House Democrats are urging the federal government to reinstate immigration oversight offices shut down in the past few weeks.
Nearly 50 Democrats including U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida, and U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-New Mexico, sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday demanding the reinstatement of the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) ombudsman and the Office of the Immigration Detention ombudsman.
All three were shut down in recent weeks; all three provide oversight in detention facilities and investigate complaints regarding detention, standards and safety.
“The elimination of oversight mechanisms leaves individuals detained […] around the country without recourse, undermines transparency, and erodes public trust in (DHS’) ability to uphold basic human rights and responsibly manage billions of taxpayer dollars,” the letter states. “This decision is particularly troubling given previous findings of abuse and neglect in DHS facilities, which underscore the necessity of independent oversight.”
The lawmakers demand of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem that she reverse the decision to close the offices and that she answers a battery of questions. Those range from what the reason for the closings was, to what will be done to the money Congress appropriated to run such offices.
Vasquez, who represents a Southwest border district, said he is concerned about the “unchecked expansion” of DHS power. “Shutting down oversight offices, disregarding due process, and detaining migrants in unsanitary conditions, military sites or foreign prisons is inhumane and un-American,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
DHS has not publicly responded to the letter.
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