WASHINGTON — Human Rights Watch reports that Congress’ decision this week to delay funding for the Department of Homeland Security could provide a rare opportunity to impose meaningful oversight and reforms on the agency and its immigration enforcement arms amid mounting public outrage over recent crackdowns, killings and other alleged abuses.
In an article published on Human Rights Watch, senior researcher Angelica Sedgwick Oun writes that Congress approved five of six federal funding bills, postponing approval of the DHS budget “over concerns regarding recent immigration crackdowns,” including deaths and other alleged human rights violations. Lawmakers are now negotiating possible reforms affecting DHS and its two largest enforcement agencies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
Oun reports that the American Immigration Lawyers Association and civil rights organizations nationwide have compiled a list of 10 legislative proposals they are urging Congress to include in any final funding bill. The proposals call for congressional investigations into deadly uses of force and killings, an end to racial profiling, elimination of qualified immunity for immigration enforcement officers, a halt to warrantless arrests, and an end to the detention of families.
“Congress should consider at least some of these policy recommendations and produce—with no excuses—a robust set of reforms to strengthen oversight and rein in the rampant abuses that have led to this point,” Oun writes.
The renewed push for oversight comes amid widespread protests. According to Oun, thousands of people have taken to the streets in Minneapolis and across the country to denounce recent killings and alleged abuses by immigration enforcement officers. Demonstrators have protested agents concealing their identities, breaking down doors without judicial warrants, and targeting people for arrest based on perceived nationality or skin color.
Oun reports that many of these arrests have turned violent, resulting in deaths, injuries and, in some cases, the detention of U.S. citizens. People taken into custody are often abused, neglected, and deprived of due process rights, she writes, further intensifying public anger and fear.
Human Rights Watch investigations conducted over multiple administrations have repeatedly documented abusive conduct by ICE and CBP, including allegations of unlawful killings, physical and verbal assaults, and the arbitrary detention of immigrants. In some cases, Oun notes, individuals have been sent to third countries where they were detained or tortured.
Despite the severity of the allegations, Oun argues that there has been little to no accountability for agents or officials implicated in misconduct. “This has made communities fearful and undermined public safety,” she writes.
Oun contends that Congress bears significant responsibility for the current situation. In 2025, Congress approved a $165 billion increase to the DHS budget through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. At the same time, the Trump administration sharply reduced staffing levels in DHS oversight offices, effectively “eliminating internal oversight mechanisms,” according to Human Rights Watch.
“It is long past time for Congress to exercise meaningful oversight of DHS and secure accountability for human rights abuses,” Oun writes. She urges lawmakers, as they draft the DHS funding bill, to prioritize oversight of enforcement operations and detention practices and to build in clear accountability measures for human rights violations.
Oun concludes with a stark warning: “Congress should not allow DHS to continue using abusive tactics with impunity.”
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