Federal immigration agents will not be fazed by Washington, D.C.’s government shutdown, with nationwide arrests and deportations to continue as usual.
The federal government shutdown became official at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday after Congress failed to pass a stopgap funding bill before the deadline. While all non-essential operations will be paused until funding is restored, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that its mission to carry out large-scale deportation operations will not slow down.
“Despite a lapse in funding, ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] will continue to remove the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens including rapists, pedophiles, murderers, gang members and terrorists from our country,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Thanks to the Trump Administration’s signature piece of legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill, we will continue to hire, train, and deploy law enforcement across the country to make America safe again.”
“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 continued.
The spending fight largely revolves over whether a short-term bill would extend enhanced Affordable Care Act premium subsidies set to expire after 2025. Democratic leaders are demanding that the legislation extend the enhanced tax credits, while Republicans have pushed their own package and argue Democrats have forced a shutdown in an attempt to gain leverage.
Deportation agents remained vigilant just hours before the government shutdown officially took effect.
Immigration agents in Texas arrested Mauricio Ibarra-Cruz, a Mexican illegal migrant convicted of sexual assault of a child, and Joshua Alexander Cortez-Ramirez, a Mexican illegal migrant convicted of child cruelty and sex with a minor in California, on Tuesday. ICE agents also nabbed a Mexican illegal migrant convicted of second-degree murder in Los Angeles, California, a Guatemalan illegal migrant convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon in Framingham, Massachusetts and a Chinese national convicted of alien smuggling that same day.
Details over the latest arrest come at a fraught time for the agency, where assaults against ICE agents have purportedly increased more than 1,000% and sanctuary lawmakers have publicly demonized them.
In September, an ICE facility was targeted by sniper fire by an individual appearing to hold anti-ICE sentiment. The alleged shooter, Joshua Jahn, left behind writings about how he wanted to “give ICE agents real terror” and scribbled “anti-ICE” onto shell casings before opening fire at the facility, ultimately killing two detainees.
Just days after the Dallas ICE attack, hundreds of rioters blocked the gates of an ICE processing center in Illinois and chanted “arrest ICE, shoot ICE.” Such anti-ICE rhetoric and attacks have continued as Democratic lawmakers have demanded ICE agents conduct their operations with no face coverings, potentially leaving them to be doxxed by the public.
DHS, the department that oversees the ongoing deportation operations, reiterated that its mission will continue — despite the demonization by Democratic politicians and the government shutdown.
“They might put politics first, but we won’t — the deportations will continue,” McLaughlin stated. “We will continue to put the safety of the American people FIRST.”
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