Despite the ongoing federal government shutdown, immigration enforcement operations are continuing as scheduled across the United States, with deportation officers carrying out arrests and removals nationwide.
The shutdown — triggered just after midnight on Wednesday when Congress failed to pass a short-term funding bill — has paused many non-essential government operations. But according to officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will remain fully operational.
“Despite a lapse in funding, ICE will continue to remove the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens — including rapists, pedophiles, murderers, gang members, and terrorists — from our country,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
McLaughlin credited the Trump administration’s recent immigration legislation — the One Big Beautiful Bill — for providing long-term funding protections for immigration enforcement programs, allowing continued hiring, training, and deployment of agents despite the broader government funding lapse.
Arrests Continue Nationwide
ICE officers carried out several high-profile arrests on Tuesday, just hours before the shutdown officially took effect.
According to ICE, the apprehended individuals included:
- Mauricio Ibarra-Cruz, a Mexican national convicted of sexual assault of a child, arrested in Texas.
- Joshua Alexander Cortez-Ramirez, a Mexican national convicted of child cruelty and sex with a minor, arrested in California.
- A Mexican national convicted of second-degree murder, arrested in Los Angeles.
- A Guatemalan national convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon, arrested in Massachusetts.
- A Chinese national convicted of alien smuggling.
These arrests highlight ICE’s continued focus on what it refers to as “high-priority criminal aliens,” even during reduced government operations.
Ongoing Political Tensions
McLaughlin also used the statement to criticize anti-ICE rhetoric from some lawmakers and activists, tying it to a rise in assaults and threats against ICE personnel.
“Democratic politicians have villainized our brave ICE law enforcement — calling them the Nazi Gestapo, the Secret Police, and kidnappers — and now they are putting our officers’ families under financial strains,” McLaughlin said.
She pointed to a September sniper attack on an ICE facility in Dallas, where two detainees were killed and the suspect allegedly left behind writings expressing violent anti-ICE sentiment. Just days later, hundreds of protesters surrounded an ICE processing center in Illinois, chanting “Arrest ICE, shoot ICE,” according to DHS accounts.
Additionally, agency officials state that assaults on ICE agents have risen more than 1,000%.
Some Democratic lawmakers have pushed for reform of ICE tactics, including calls for agents to stop using face coverings, which ICE says are vital for protecting agents from being doxxed or harassed.
Shutdown Negotiations Continue
While many government functions remain frozen, DHS reiterated that immigration enforcement will remain active, citing its public safety mission and protected funding.
“They might put politics first, but we won’t — the deportations will continue,” McLaughlin said. “We will continue to put the safety of the American people FIRST.”
