Shutdown Or Not, There’s No Stopping Trump’s Deportations

The Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts will move full steam ahead even if the government shuts down.

More than 19,000 of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) roughly 21,000 employees will work through a shutdown, according to a contingency plan released by the Department of Homeland Security. And the working employees will assist in the agency’s law enforcement functions in cracking down on illegal immigration and illicit drugs.

Multiple agency sources carrying out arrests and deportations of illegal immigrants across the country confirmed that they’re required to report to work and are considered “essential” government employees during a shutdown.

“It’s business as usual,” one ICE source told The Daily Wire.

Credit: Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

In addition to ICE, most of Customs and Border Protection’s personnel will also stay on the job during a shutdown. The agency has not only played an integral role in shutting down the borders under the Trump administration, but also in assisting ICE with its deportation operations across the country, including in Chicago and Portland.

While ICE and CBP authorities won’t get paid for working during a shutdown, they will receive backpay once Congress passes a funding bill.

The looming shutdown comes as the Trump administration doubles down on ICE sweeps across the country despite an uptick in left-wing violence targeting agents. Trump deployed troops to Portland over the weekend in an attempt to crack down on attacks carried out by Antifa and other domestic terrorists, which have targeted ICE facilities.

And the job is anything but finished, a Homeland Security official told The Daily Wire.

A shutdown seemed all but certain after President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance met at the White House Monday afternoon with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) to pass a continuing resolution that will keep the government open before October 1.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance delivers remarks following a meeting with Congressional Democrats and U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on September 29, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Following the meeting, Vance told reporters that a shutdown was likely coming.

“I think we’re heading to a shutdown, because the Democrats won’t do the right thing,” Vance said. “I hope they change their mind, but we’re going to see.”

The House on Sept. 19 passed a seven-week extension of government funding that would expire on Nov. 21, but the Senate struck it down in a vote of 44-48. The Senate needs 60 votes to pass such a resolution.