The Trump administration has triggered a human rights firestorm after quietly mothballing the federal watchdog responsible for monitoring abuses within the US immigration system.
The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, once a critical line of defence against misconduct, has seen its official presence reduced to 'archived content' on government servers. This move comes at a catastrophic moment for the agency, with internal reports indicating that 18 people have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody within the first four months of 2026 alone, Reuters reported.
