Washington, Feb 15 (EFE). - The 'tsar' of the Trump administration's border, Tom Homan, assured this Sunday that immigration raids will continue nationwide despite the partial closure of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which today marks its second day with no signs of a funding agreement in Congress. When asked if the shutdown would restrict the ability of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to continue its operations, Homan responded that despite the lack of funds to pay agents, they will continue to enforce the hardline immigration policy promoted by Trump. 'ICE officers will not receive pay, but it seems they are getting used to it. We have record numbers of arrests and deportations that will continue,' he told the CNN chain. The U.S. Senate failed last Thursday in its attempt to pass a Republican bill to fund the DHS through September, after nearly all Democrats blocked the measure for not including sufficient limits on ICE operations, which have sparked protests and so far resulted in the deaths of two Americans in Minneapolis (Minnesota). The scheduled recess in both chambers of Congress, controlled by Republicans - among whom there are also differences over whether to push for an annual funding proposal or a temporary one - could extend the closure of the entity, which employs more than 270,000 people, over 90% of whom will remain active during this period. This new partial shutdown, the second in February after a brief closure at the beginning of the month, will not affect the rest of the federal government, whose budget has already been approved until the end of the fiscal year. A previous full shutdown limited the functions of the administration for a record 43 days between October and November last year. It will only affect agencies under the DHS umbrella: ICE, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), among others. ICE has been the most visible face of Trump's hardline anti-immigration policies in his second term, and the agency that has carried out, along with CBP, raids in Democratic-majority cities such as Minneapolis, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Despite the confrontation between Democrats and Republicans revolving around this agency, the multimillion-dollar injection of funds through the budget and tax bill pushed by the U.S. president gives the DHS secretary, Kristi Noem, wide latitude to reallocate money dedicated to ensuring immigration operations. Photo EFE. The entry 'Trump Government Ensures Immigration Raids Will Continue During DHS Shutdown' was first published in La Verdad Panamá. So no, the immigration mission, the reason President Trump was elected president, continues. We have the most secure border in the nation's history.
