May 15, 2025
DHS Halted 500+ Civil Rights Investigations When It Shut Down Oversight Office, Whistleblowers Say
Government Accountability Project files two new whistleblower disclosures from CRCL employees and medical subject matter experts.
WASHINGTON —Today, Government Accountability Project filed two protected whistleblower disclosures to Congress detailing the grave consequences of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) closure of the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL). Prior to its closure, CRCL advised DHS on civil rights and civil liberties issues as well as investigated complaints of violations by the public.
The first disclosure, filed on behalf of confidential CRCL employees who have chosen to remain anonymous because of fear of retaliation by DHS, recounts how in March 2025 DHS terminated the office's statutory functions, revoked employee access to Department systems and offices, and froze hundreds of open civil rights investigations.
At the time of CRCL's elimination, more than 500 civil rights complaints were open and under investigation, and hundreds more complaints were pending CRCL's review. CRCL was investigating allegations involving multiple DHS components, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Protective Service, and the Transportation Security Agency. These complaints involved allegations of medical neglect, sexual abuse, targeting of Trump voters, and dangerous conditions in immigration detention.
Beyond investigating allegations affecting the public, the closure of CRCL halted a wide array of civil rights and civil liberties oversight and advising across DHS's extensive operations. This work included oversight of the use of facial recognition technology on U.S. Citizens, assistance of people with disabilities, investigation of DHS employee complaints, and monitoring of DHS collaboration with local law enforcement agencies performing immigration enforcement work. To date, CRCL's statutory functions have neither been continued nor transferred.
The second disclosure, submitted on behalf of Dr. Scott Allen and Dr. Pamela McPherson—two longtime contracted DHS medical experts who investigated immigration detention centers for CRCL since 2014—warns that the re-implementation of family detention in March 2025, quickly followed by the elimination of CRCL, removes essential safeguards that have historically helped prevent serious harm to children in immigration detention. After warning internally about the well-documented harm to children in detention settings, in 2018, they publicly sounded the alarm about these harms and how they are foreseeable and exacerbated by systemic weaknesses in the ability of the detention facilities to meet minimal standards of care and protect children. Their letter highlights the fact that without CRCL oversight, children will be that much more at risk of foreseeable and preventable medical and psychological harm.
"Closing this office is reckless," said Dana Gold, Senior Director of Advocacy and Strategy and Democracy Protection Initiative director at Government Accountability Project. "DHS has effectively stopped civil rights oversight across the Department, leaving U.S. citizens, travelers, disaster survivors, frontline employees, and families and children with nowhere to turn when their rights are violated."
"As just one example, in 2018 we told Congress that a child would die if DHS kept locking families in these facilities. Months later, three did: seven-year-old Jakelin Caal Maquin, eight-year-old Felipe Gòmez Alonzo, and eighteen-month-old Mariee Juárez," said Dr. Scott Allen, a longtime CRCL medical subject matter expert. "Demolishing internal oversight while restarting family detention will likely result in greater harm to children and their families."
Government Accountability Project urges Congress to meaningfully investigate the waste, fraud, and abuse associated with CRCL's closure.
Contact: [email protected]
Government Accountability Project
Government Accountability Project is the nation's leading whistleblower protection organization. Through litigating whistleblower cases, publicizing concerns and developing legal reforms, Government Accountability Project's mission is to protect the public interest by promoting government and corporate accountability. Founded in 1977, Government Accountability Project is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.
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