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2.0

DHS Inspector General announces pending investigations into ICE, CBP

  1. Original Date Announced

    February 5, 2026

    The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced that it is conducting eight internal oversight investigations into different aspects of DHS's operations.

    The investigations cover: (1) ICE's hiring and training, (2) ICE's 287(g) program for collaboration with state and local law enforcement agencies, (3) ICE's use of expedited removal authority, (4) CBP's interior immigration enforcement, (5) ICE's processes for investigating allegations of excessive force, (6) DHS's processes for preventing the arrest of U.S. citizens during immigration-enforcement operations, (7) unannounced inspections of ICE detention facilities, and (8) DHS's management of biometrics and personally identifiable information.

    The announcement does not provide a timeline for completion, but states "these reviews are being conducted as expeditiously as possible while ensuring we apply rigor and uphold our professional standards." If the investigations reveal matters that "warrant immediate attention and action," OIG will inform DHS and Congress before issuing findings.

    Trump 2.0 [ID #2198]

    2026.02.05 DHS OIG: Oversight Reviews of DHS Immigration Enforcement Programs and Operations
  2. Subsequent Trump and Court Action

    February 6, 2026

    2026.02.10 Reported: DHS demanded list of ongoing investigations from its watchdog - The Hill

    The Hill reports that "Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has requested a list of all ongoing investigations by [OIG]": "The letter from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) general counsel James Percival comes after [Sen. Tammy] Duckworth said DHS’s Office of Inspector General had received 'repeated tacit threats'" in the form of reminders of the Secretary's authority to cancel OIG investigations for national security or public interest. According to Percival, "neither he nor Noem sought to halt any investigations" and he "requested on her behalf a list of all investigations to ensure she can evaluate whether it might ever be appropriate to exercise that power."

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Current Status

None

Original Trump Policy Status

Status: Final/Actual
Trump Administration Action: Agency Directive
Subject Matter: Interior Enforcement
Agencies Affected: ICE CBP DHS

Commentary

  • 2026.02.05 Letter from Sen. Tammy Duckworth to Secretary Kristi Noem re: DHS OIG investigations

    Senator Tammy Duckworth released a letter to DHS Secretary Noem accusing her of "intimidating Inspector General [Joseph] Cuffari from performing independent investigations into Border Patrol agent use of force incidents." Duckworth wrote that IG Cuffari informed her in a meeting that DHS General Counsel James Percival had "reminded" DHS OIG, repeatedly and unprompted, of Secretary Noem's authority to prohibit OIG investigations for national security or the public interest under 5 U.S.C. § 417, which no DHS Secretary has ever invoked. Duckworth suggested that these communications from Percival explained OIG's "odd inaction" in refusing to engage in "proactive investigations of all use of force incidents related to the Trump administration's aggressive and violent mass deportation operations."

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