[4] Schlanger's major initiatives as Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Officer included: creating and managing a structure for overseeing the Department's controversial Secure Communities program to ensure that it did not serve as a conduit for unconstitutional practices by local law enforcement agencies in jurisdictions covered by the program;[5] publishing guidance for agencies that receive DHS funding on providing meaningful access to people with limited English proficiency;[6] working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the reform of detention practices;[7] and improving the department's civil rights complaint process.

[8] She also served as the Reporter for the American Bar Association's Task Force on the Treatment of Prisoners.

[9] She has testified before Congress on community engagement in countering violent extremism,[4] as well as on the impact of the Prison Litigation Reform Act.

[3] After law school, she clerked for two years for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court of the United States, then worked as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice.

[13] In September 2021 Schlanger was nominated to be Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Civil Rights in the Biden administration.