Government shutdowns seem to be increasingly more common in the past few years. For some, it’s just a news headline, but for others, there are drastic effects. The United States is currently experiencing a partial Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, as opposed to a complete shutdown, which would affect a number of different government agencies. It is extremely important to know what this means, what services will still be operating, and who is affected at these times.
A partial shutdown is when funding for a certain department in the government and only specific sections are affected. A full shutdown is when all government-operated agencies and departments are closed. The current shutdown specifically affects the DHS, which includes the divisions of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Coast Guard, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. This shutdown currently only affects DHS because of a bill funding failure that was unable to pass in Congress. The Democrats requested a “masks off, body cameras on” policy, along with other reform requests after the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration officers. With this being said, ICE is still fully operational due to its separate funding and not relying fully on DHS’s budget bill. Agents already have their funding allocated which allows them to continue to operate and leave the department fully operational, even though the shutdown was caused by their actions.
The list of operations that are ongoing may sound foreign if you’re unaware of different departments in the government. It is important to acknowledge that even though many operations are still open and running, all workers in these departments are going without pay. Funding resumes once the shutdown is over, but there is no way to tell how long shutdowns are anticipated to last; sometimes they’re days, sometimes longer than a month. Coast guard missions can be expected to be abandoned or suspended, federal disaster response will be slowed down, and air travelers will expect delays, according to NPR.
Government workers within the DHS aren’t the only ones impacted; there are long-lasting effects on everyone in the country. Some federal workers will work without any type of compensation, immigrant families will be delayed in their processing, travelers will experience more wait times at airports, and local and state governments that depend on DHS for funding and grants. For New Jersey residents, this means a couple of different things. TSA workers at Newark Airport, one of the busiest airports in the country, will see many of the effects mentioned before. Coast Guard members stationed at any of the multiple facilities in the state will continue to work without pay, and operations will continue with financial strain. Many towns, especially coastal towns, rely on FEMA for flood grants and disaster recovery, and these can be expected to be slowed down or paused. One of the most pressing issues will be the immigration services that will be affected, such as applications for green cards, work authorization, naturalization interviews, and asylum processing.
There won’t be instant effects right in front of our eyes during a shutdown, but there will certainly be lasting effects. Systems are slowed down, workers face unnecessary strain, and citizens are deeply affected. A shutdown is more than just a government status; it is a call for immediate action to be taken in our country’s government.
