Democrats are using every tool in their arsenal to demand changes to ICE and Customs and Border Protection in the wake of two shootings of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis by immigration agents.
But a government shutdown would cause few, if any, immediate changes to the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration enforcement operations. Other parts of DHS won’t be so lucky.
What’s on the line: The funding lapse is mainly expected to affect the Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Transportation Security Agency, Secret Service, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. While TSA agents and other critical employees will likely continue to work — without pay — given their essential security function, furloughs of civilian staff are expected at most other parts of DHS.
One major exception will likely be ICE. ICE received billions of dollars as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. This funding allowed ICE to keep the lights on during the last government shutdown, and it is expected to again sustain deportation operations during this one. But it will likely reduce the amount of oversight lawmakers can conduct. During the last shutdown, ICE paused lawmakers’ access to detention facilities and quietly furloughed the agency’s congressional relations team.
