Civil Rights Watchdog To Investigate Trump Administration
A civil rights watchdog group has announced it will launch a two-year investigation of the Trump administration.
The United States Commission on Civil Rights said it will begin the probe to examine whether civil rights offices are able to function.
The United States Commission on Civil Rights is a bipartisan federal watchdog group.
The organization voted unanimously to launch the two-year investigation into the “degree to which current budgets and staffing levels allow civil rights offices to perform” in Trump’s administration.
In a statement, the commission noted concerns that the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts to civil rights offices across the federal government “would result in a dangerous reduction of civil rights enforcement across the country, leaving communities of color, LGBT people, older people, people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups exposed to greater risk of discrimination.”
“For 60 years, Congress has charged the Commission to monitor Federal civil rights enforcement and recommend necessary change. We take this charge seriously, and we look forward to reporting our findings to Congress, the President, and the American people,” Commission Chair Catherine Lhamon said in the statement.
Among the concerns of the Commission, is the Trump administration’s proposal to cut 121 positions from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
The group also blasted the Trump administration for placing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at courthouses calling it “a dangerous impediment to access to justice for all Americans.”
They also pointed to the proposal to eliminate 46 positions at the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and similar cuts at the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services and Environmental Protection Agency.
[image via screengrab]
