The Issue
On Friday, March 21, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it was essentially eliminating three of its oversight divisions, ostensibly in connection with the broader reduction in force being implemented by the federal government. The affected offices are the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman (IDO Ombudsman) and the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman).
A Deeper Dive
Reports indicate that the affected employees were furloughed for 60 days, after which they will be fired if they have not obtained another job within the federal government. The agencies, which comprise an extremely small percentage of the DHS workforce, had apparently become the focus of DHS leadership due to their work addressing inquiries and problems experienced by stakeholders attempting to navigate our complex immigration system. As DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin noted, “[t]hese offices have obstructed immigration enforcement by adding bureaucratic hurdles and undermining [DHS’] mission. Rather than supporting law enforcement efforts, they often function as internal adversaries that slow down operations.”
For purposes of accuracy, CRCL’s role, as indicated on its website, is to support “the Department’s mission to secure the nation while preserving individual liberty, fairness, and equality under the law.” Both Ombudsman offices function as a liaison between the public and Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) respectively in resolving complaints and processing issues. The CIS Ombudsman was particularly effective in correcting USCIS adjudication errors. All three agencies represented the voice of stakeholders with DHS.
Because all three agencies are statutorily mandated, they cannot, as a technical matter, be eliminated without Congressional action. However, agencies without staff performing their core statutory function are functionally eviscerated and all three agencies will likely be unable to provide any services effective immediately.
What Employers Should Know
Over the years, the CIS Ombudsman has played an important role in working collaboratively with USCIS to research and resolve a myriad of issues affecting the proper administration of U.S. immigration law. When employers or their counsel had an issue with USCIS that they could not resolve of their own, the CIS Ombudsman was often an effective last resort before litigation. With its apparent demise, these issues will now become the responsibility of Congressional staffers providing constituent services, who are already significantly overworked with their current caseloads. As such, their backlogs will grow and the likelihood of a prompt and proper resolution of USCIS adjudication issues has all but disappeared. Also, the ability of stakeholders to resolve legitimate processing issues without resorting to litigation has been reduced significantly.
It remains to be seen how members of Congress will respond to the attempted evisceration of agencies they established, not to mention the inevitable deluge of constituent inquiries. What is clear is that an important channel for resolution of immigration adjudication issues was just eliminated with no notice and little concern for the consequences. If you wish to discuss the impact of this change on your foreign national population, please reach out to your Meltzer Hellrung attorney.
