DHS shuts down OIDO, ending the independent ICE detention oversight Congress created

DHS closed the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman on May 5, 2026, citing a funding lapse from a government shutdown — though the measure Congress passed to fund DHS did not mandate OIDO's closure. The office had already been gutted from over 100 staff to 5 employees by early 2026. Over 400 open complaints were transferred to ICE for self-oversight. Congress had created OIDO by statute in 2020, and advocacy groups immediately filed legal challenges arguing the executive branch could not abolish a congressionally mandated office.