HRW: Trump Administration 'Dismantles' Federal Civil Rights Enforcement

According to a report published on August 13 by Human Rights Watch (HRW), major personnel and policy changes under President Donald Trump's administration have "dismantled" the monitoring and enforcement of civil rights laws in the United States.

HRW emphasized: "The federal government plays a unique and irreplaceable role in enforcing anti-discrimination laws. In some cases, federal law is more comprehensive than state law, and in some cases, Congress grants federal agencies exclusive authority to bring lawsuits."

The organization interviewed former government officials, reviewed court records and other documents, and spoke with community leaders and civil rights lawyers about the impact of the current administration's pivot away from protecting the rights of minorities, transgender people, and other groups.

The report comes amid U.S. Supreme Court rulings that have reversed decades-old legal precedents used to ensure minorities could access voting and be fairly represented in electoral districts.

According to HRW, federal agencies that once had divisions dedicated to investigating discrimination in the criminal justice system, housing, education, and employment have been significantly cut since President Trump took office in January 2025.

Specifically, the Department of Justice lost three-quarters of its lawyers in the Civil Rights Division by early 2026 and canceled reform agreements with police in Louisville and Minneapolis. In nearly 70 cases nationwide, the agency has stopped participating, dismissed, or reversed its support for plaintiffs in discrimination lawsuits.

The Department of Education, which handles complaints based on federal laws banning discrimination in schools, laid off nearly half its staff in a single day and closed seven of its 12 regional offices. In the year before Trump took office, the department received a record number of complaints from Black and Latino students about discrimination. Since Trump took power, it has not resolved a single case.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development also sharply cut staff in its division investigating housing discrimination, leaving at least 115 fair housing complaints unresolved without findings. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which handles discrimination complaints from workers in the private and public sectors, has fallen to its lowest staffing level in 40 years.

Trey Walk, a researcher on the U.S. program at HRW, said: "The Trump administration is targeting efforts to address discrimination without offering any alternative. While claiming to protect all Americans, the administration is eliminating the systems that communities have long relied on to seek relief."

HRW is one of the leading human rights organizations that recently filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration's campaign targeting the International Criminal Court (ICC). The lawsuit alleges that the administration's broad sanctions against the court and cooperating organizations could infringe on the constitutional rights of citizens and groups in the U.S.