A group of 36 lawmakers says the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has created “disappearances” on US soil, due to the “increasingly unreliable” online system used to track people detained by immigration authorities, according to a letter shared with the Guardian.
The lawmakers, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, are urging that the DHS inspector general’s office open an investigation into the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “online detainee locator system” (ODLS), which has been used for years by family members, attorneys and journalists to track people in the federal immigration detention system.
“Since January 2025, that system has grown increasingly unreliable,” the lawmakers, including Senator Ben Ray Luján and House representatives Veronica Escobar and Lauren Underwood, say in the letter. “Without a functional locator system, DHS is effectively creating ‘disappearances’ on US soil, and we urge the DHS office of inspector general (OIG) to investigate this matter.”
Another strongly worded letter.
And you expect them to do …what? Idiot voters gave both houses of Congress, the White House, and effectively the military and supreme court to the GOP. Are the Democrats supposed to mob and attack DC with overwhelming power? Why don’t YOU?
I dunno. I thought our party leaders might try to organize some sort of resistance besides just rubber stamping everything they do. Maybe start organizing or something useful?
I think for now, both you and I will continue to complain about it online to distract everyone.
I thought it was called kidnapping.
make sure to do nothing about it
Late to the party. Weak. Pointless. Useless. But fuck me, do they try, really really hard to make themselves sound like they’re doing something.
If I were a dem governor I would simply announce no prosecutions for violence against ice agents.
Sincerely yours,
Professor Dingus McDipshit
Nothing changes through purely peaceful protest. Labor Rights and Civil Rights were both won through bloodshed.
The political math is the issue Republicans control the House (narrowly) and the Senate, so Democrats can’t force legislation, subpoenas, or funding cuts on their own.
That leaves only a few options
- Letters demanding IG investigations (which this is)
- Floor speeches and press conferences
- Attempts to attach amendments to must-pass bills
- Public pressure campaigns
The letter from Warren. is aimed at the DHS Office of Inspector General, which is technically independent and can investigate without congressional approval. But OIGs are often slow, under-resourced, and subject to political pressure from the administration.
Just trying to give prospective about the options available to them.
