‘U.S. immigration laws and enforcement efforts remain unchanged,’ the agency says.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said that border and immigration enforcement will not be affected by the government shutdown that began on Oct. 1.
“There is NO CHANGE to U.S. immigration laws or border enforcement. Rumors that a U.S. government shutdown will allow illegal immigrants to enter the United States are FALSE,” the agency wrote on X on Wednesday. “U.S. immigration laws and enforcement efforts remain unchanged.”
ICE added that “border security and enforcement efforts remain strict, and crossing the border without authorization remains a crime.”
The government was shut down early Wednesday morning after Congress could not come to an agreement on how to fund the government. It’s unclear how long the shutdown will last or what the ramifications will be.
In Congress, Democrats are demanding the extension of health care subsidies, the reversal of Medicaid cuts enacted over the summer, and for the White House to promise not to rescind congressional spending as part of the bill. Republicans say there’s still time to negotiate on health care this year, but that stopgap funding for the government is not the time to add such requests.
Now that a lapse in funding has occurred, the law requires agencies to furlough their “non-excepted” employees. Excepted employees, who include those who work to protect life and property, stay on the job but don’t get paid until after the shutdown ends.
All administrations get some leeway to choose which services to freeze and which to maintain in a shutdown. FBI investigators, CIA officers, air traffic controllers, and agents operating airport checkpoints will keep working.
Programs that rely on mandatory spending generally continue during a shutdown. Social Security payments still go out, seniors relying on Medicare coverage can still see their doctors, and health care providers can be reimbursed.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Postal Service is unaffected by a government shutdown. It’s an independent entity funded through the sale of its products and services, not by tax dollars.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates roughly 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed each day of the shutdown, with the total daily cost of their compensation at roughly $400 million.
