DHS Shutdown Will Spare ICE, Punish Everyone Else

"The odds are very high that on Friday, February 13, the ongoing dispute over immigration enforcement will lead to an indefinite shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security - but only the parts that have nothing to do with immigration. Yes, that is counterintuitive. But ICE, the Border Control, and the other masked agents of DHS were given a separate, and very large, source of funding in last year's One Big Beautiful Bill Act."

"That means they are essentially exempt from any government shutdown or Democratic maneuver to curb their activities by denying them money. On January 31, Democrats forced a much larger (if partial) shutdown of the federal government in the wake of ICE and Border Patrol atrocities in Minneapolis. After a few days, the two parties struck a deal to resume funding for most of the government."

An ongoing dispute over immigration enforcement risks an indefinite shutdown of parts of the Department of Homeland Security on Friday, February 13. ICE and Border Patrol retain separate, large funding from last year's omnibus law, insulating them from shutdown effects. As a result, non-immigration DHS components such as FEMA, TSA, the U.S. Coast Guard, and smaller subagencies face closure, affecting air travel, disaster response, and about 200,000 federal employees. Democrats plan to leverage funding to demand ICE and Border Patrol reforms. Republicans are unlikely to acquiesce, and GOP responses will vary across members and constituencies.

Read at Intelligencer