The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Tuesday that it has shut down an office dedicated to exposing misconduct at immigration detention facilities.

A spokesperson for DHS argued that the closure was mandated by Congress in recently passed legislation to fund the department. The bill in question, however, did not mention the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, and it remains unclear what measure the spokesperson was referring to.

“DHS did not shutdown the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman—Congress did,” a DHS spokesperson told NOTUS. “The House passed the DHS appropriations bill without objection, and it was signed into law last week.”

The department’s confirmation comes after HuffPost first reported this week on the office’s closure.

The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman and its website, which served as places people could report violations of immigrants’ rights, are now both shuttered. The office is empty and the website is archived.

HuffPost obtained an internal email from the agency, which states that the office is in the process of removing all public signage and ending its inspections.

The department is blaming the recent DHS funding bill passed by Congress, which ended a monthslong partial shutdown. President Donald Trump signed the bill April 30.

It allotted funding for the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard and the Secret Service through the end of the fiscal year.

It does not, however, mention the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, nor did it require its closure.

This closure comes at a time where there is a lack of oversight of immigration centers, as well as a surge in detainees. A record high of 73,000 immigration detainees was reached in mid-January.

From the start of Trump’s second term until now, 49 detainees have died while in custody, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The most recent reported death was April 1.

Those in custody are battling for their rights. NOTUS reported last week that some detained immigrants filed a class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration for a catch-22 biometric data policy that they argue has blocked them from gaining legal status.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services updated its policy in December to bar detained immigrants from getting their fingerprints and photos taken — which are required for visa and other deportation-protection applications.