Department of Homeland Security Valentines Day Shutdown Begins

What Happened?

Funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) expired at 12:01 midnight on February 14^th, which has caused at least a partial shutdown of DHS. Lawmakers from both parties have already left Washington, D.C., and are not set to return until February 23^rd, though party leaders have said members will return for a vote if a new agreement is reached with the Trump Administration.

Following public outcry against the tactics of Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis, federal lawmakers demanded several new restrictions be placed on ICE agents, or they refused to pass a new funding bill. Thus far, the White House has not agreed to most of the demands from lawmakers.

Why it Matters

The partial shutdown of DHS will affect the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Federal Emergency Management Administration and the Coast Guard. In total, the shutdown impacts roughly thirteen percent of the federal workforce. Air travelers in the U.S. could face longer lines and delays at airports due to the funding lapse for TSA.

Congressional Democrats have demanded ICE agents wear body cameras and be required to seek judicial warrants instead of the administrative warrants currently being used to deport suspected illegal immigrants.

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DHS had agreed to body cameras for ICE agents, but the Trump Administration has steadfastly refused to require ICE agents to seek judicial warrants when conducting sweeps for suspected illegal immigrants. Currently, the administration is relying on administrative warrants, which can be issued by DHS itself and do not require a judge’s signature or oversight. Judicial warrants do require the approval of a judge, and because of that, judicial warrants can often take longer to acquire.

Previous administrations, including both the Obama and Biden administrations, utilized administrative warrants to speed up the deportation process for suspected illegal immigrants. The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that immigrants are entitled to due process protections, regardless of whether the government suspects them of being in the U.S. illegally.

Administrative warrants appear to violate Constitutional due process requirements, but the court system has yet to issue a specific ruling on the Constitutionality of administrative warrants themselves. 

For the Trump Administration, a third government shutdown, even though it will be a partial one, will likely be a political liability in a Congressional election year, especially after the public outcry against the tactics being used by ICE agents. ICE will continue to operate despite the funding impasse in Washington because it received a large budget increase last year. 

How it Affects You

The due process argument at the heart of the administrative warrants debate touches on one of the key provisions of the Bill of Rights in U.S. Constitution. In the 5^th Amendment, the due process clause states no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

The provision does not say no U.S. citizen, but no person, shall be deprived of life, liberty of property without due process of law, which is why the Supreme Court has held it applies to immigrants as well.

Prior to the onset of the American Revolutionary War, British forces routinely deprived American colonists of all three (life, liberty, and property) without any legal process at all. Armed soldiers would simply show up and arrest or execute people.

John Adams wrote, ‘from such moments, the child revolution was born.’ The founders put the due process clause in the Constitution to prevent the U.S. government from ever behaving the way the British crown did.

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