DHS closes the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman outright; complaint portal goes offline and inspections end

DHS announced by internal email on May 4, 2026 that OIDO was closing, attributing the closure to the absence of federal funding in the appropriations package that ended the 76-day shutdown. The OIDO section of the DHS website was archived, the complaint portal went offline so that no new detainee complaints can be filed, OIDO began removing all of its remaining public signage from detention facilities, and its inspections — covering abuse, excessive force, misconduct, and any violation of a detained person's rights — ended. DHS stated: "DHS did not shutdown the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman — Congress did." At the time, more than 60,000 people were in ICE custody; at least 18 people had died in ICE custody in calendar year 2026 through early May, following more than 30 deaths in 2025. Former ICE official Scott Shuchart called the closure "illegal"; Professor César García Hernández described it as "a familiar pattern from the Department of Homeland Security under President Trump to shed as much oversight as possible."