U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Rule Changes

Separately funded, operations continue

The Department of Homeland Security partial shutdown has entered its fourth week as of March 9, 2026, with no resolution in sight despite escalating national security pressures. On March 5, President Trump fired DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and nominated Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) to replace her, a move some Democrats suggested could ease negotiations but which has not yet broken the legislative deadlock. The standoff continues over Democratic demands for Immigration and Customs Enforcement reforms following the January deaths of two U.S. citizens—Renée Good and Alex Pretti—shot by federal agents in Minneapolis. Most of DHS's 272,000 employees continue working without pay, while TSA screeners face mounting hardship as the shutdown coincides with spring break travel season and heightened terrorism threats following U.S. military strikes against Iran that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Updated Mar 9

Force in Play

Partner agency in operation

From December 4, 2025, to February 12, 2026, Minneapolis became the testing ground for the largest federal immigration enforcement operation in American history. Operation Metro Surge deployed 2,000 agents to the Twin Cities, resulting in over 4,000 arrests—and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers. On February 12, White House border czar Tom Homan announced the operation's conclusion, declaring Minnesota 'now less of a sanctuary state.'

Updated Feb 12

Rule Changes

Border Patrol agents involved in Pretti shooting

A brief three-day partial government shutdown ended February 3 when the House passed the Senate's split funding package 217-214 and President Trump signed it into law, providing full-year appropriations for five agencies through September while extending Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding via a two-week continuing resolution through February 13. The shutdown stemmed from Senate Democrats blocking a $1.2 trillion spending package on January 29 after two fatal shootings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis within three weeks, prompting President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to negotiate the funding split.

Updated Feb 5

Force in Play

Agents killed Alex Pretti, facing scrutiny over Minneapolis operations

Three Minnesota congresswomen walked into a Minneapolis ICE detention center on January 10, were allowed entry, then were ordered out minutes later. They'd come to inspect conditions after an ICE agent shot 37-year-old U.S. citizen Renee Good in the head three days earlier during what the Trump administration called the largest immigration enforcement operation ever. DHS cited a seven-day notice rule that a federal judge had already blocked as illegal—a policy DHS Secretary Kristi Noem secretly signed the day after Good's killing. When Democrats sought emergency court intervention, Judge Jia Cobb refused to block the policy on January 20, ruling on procedural grounds while explicitly declining to find the policy lawful.

Updated Jan 30

Rule Changes

Controls airport inspection designations and the fee-based access model

The U.S. border doesn’t just move at the desert. It moves at airports—quietly, through paperwork. CBP’s latest technical amendment rewrites who gets on the “user-fee airport” list: five airports get customs access they can pay for, and one airport (Ontario, California) gets off the tab.

Updated Dec 17, 2025

Rule Changes

Controls port-of-entry parole decisions and tracks encounters used in DHS rationale

DHS just turned a promised “legal pathway” into a ticking clock. A Federal Register notice published December 15, 2025 terminates every Family Reunification Parole program tied to seven countries—and tells people already here that their parole will end on January 14, 2026.

Updated Dec 15, 2025