Attorney General Bonta Files Amicus Brief Challenging the Closure of Three DHS Oversight Offices

OAKLAND –California Attorney General Rob Bonta today, as part of a coalition of 21 attorneys general, filed an amicus brief in Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security in support of a challenge to the closure of three oversight offices at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). These congressionally mandated oversight offices are built into DHS as safeguards to ensure that the public has avenues for raising concerns about invasions of privacy, racial profiling, and human rights abuses committed in the name of protecting the homeland. In their brief, the attorneys general urge the district court to issue a preliminary injunction halting the closure of these offices and restoring staffing and funding. 

“The Trump Administration does not have the authority to unilaterally dissolve congressionally mandated oversight offices that provide vital, sometimes life-saving channels for individuals and communities to interact with DHS,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The closure of these offices is a devastating loss for California residents who rely on these offices to resolve problems with immigration benefits, address unsafe conditions in detention facilities, and investigate civil liberties violations and human rights abuses by DHS employees. I respectfully urge the court to issue a preliminary injunction and re-open these offices.”

On March 21, 2025, DHS and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shut down the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) Ombudsman’s Office, and the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO). These three oversight offices were created by Congress to exercise oversight of various DHS programs and operations; to prevent and address civil rights violations by agency employees; and to provide direct case assistance to noncitizens, their employers, and their families who interact with DHS. Prior to the closure of these offices, DHS began removing investigative records and other documents about these offices from its website. DHS subsequently announced plans to terminate virtually all their employees, while directing them to immediately cease investigating complaints and performing other statutorily required work. Additionally, DHS publicly acknowledged that it intended to dissolve these offices completely, explaining that it did so because the offices had “obstructed immigration enforcement by adding bureaucratic hurdles.”

In the amicus brief, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition urges the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to grant a preliminary injunction halting the closure of these offices, arguing that:

• DHS exceeded its statutory and constitutional authority in unilaterally shutting down congressionally mandated offices.
• The elimination of CIS Ombudsman’s Office will harm residents seeking legal immigration benefits such as work and student visas, work authorizations, and green cards.
• The dismantling of OIDO will harm individuals detained in immigration facilities who rely on OIDO to examine and take action to protect individuals from unsanitary, inhumane, and dangerous conditions of immigration detention.

• The closure of CRCL will harm states’ residents, eliminating vital oversight and transparency, eroding protections previously implemented by CRCL such as language access, accessibility for disabled individuals, and confidentiality protections for victims of trafficking and family violence.

In filing the amicus brief, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys generals of New York, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

A copy of the brief can be found here.