
Members of Congress responsible for oversight of the Department of Homeland Security will introduce legislation strengthening its internal civil rights office, they announced Monday.
The move comes after POLITICO reported that a top DHS official limited the ability of that office to oversee the work of the department’s intelligence arm.
Several months ago, the department’s second-in-command constrained the ability of DHS’ Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) to review intelligence products from the department’s Office of Intelligence & Analysis (I&A). After making that change, I&A released intelligence reports to law enforcement partners with information about journalists and protesters — sparking national criticism.