ICE and CBP would keep operating during a shutdown, despite DHS funding fight

Washington — Senate Democrats are threatening to block a package to fund major parts of the government this week, including the Department of Homeland Security, following the deadly shooting of a man by federal agents in Minneapolis.

Washington — Senate Democrats are threatening to block a package to fund major parts of the government this week, including the Department of Homeland Security, following the deadly shooting of a man by federal agents in Minneapolis.

But a partial government shutdown would likely have little impact on the administration's ongoing immigration enforcement operations, since the relevant DHS agencies received a massive funding infusion in President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year. The immigration enforcement agencies would have the funds to continue operating uninterrupted, even if other parts of the government shut down.

The Senate had been poised this week to approve a six-bill package to fund the remaining government agencies and programs — including funding for DHS. The department oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, the agency that includes Border Patrol. 

After Border Patrol agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti on Saturday, the second deadly shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis this month, Democrats came out against the plan. Facing intense pressure from their base, they have called for the DHS funds to be stripped from the broader package, a demand that makes a partial government shutdown appear likely. 

DHS received an influx of around $165 billion in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year, going well beyond the annual funding the agency regularly receives. The bill provided $75 billion for ICE and $65 billion for CBP, an enormous infusion of money for the agencies responsible for implementing the administration's mass deportation effort.