United States: DHS Receives Funding Through February 13, Rest of Federal Government Funded Through September 30
February 3, 2026
Country / Territory
Share
At a glance
- Congress has passed legislation that funds most federal agencies for the full fiscal year through September 30, 2026. The Department of Homeland Security, however, is funded for only a two-week period – through February 13 – as negotiations on enforcement limits take place.
- President Trump has signed the funding legislation.
- During the brief partial government shutdown that began January 31, immigration processing remained undisrupted.
The issue
Congress has passed a FY 2026 government funding package that funds all federal agencies except the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through September 30, 2026. Congress passed a two-week short term spending measure for DHS, funding the agency through February 13 while negotiations continue on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) accountability. President Trump has signed the funding legislation.
The federal government partially shut down after the previous spending measure lapsed on January 31, but immigration benefits processing – including the processing of labor certification applications, labor condition applications, and prevailing wage determinations at DOL – continued without interruption.
Impact of a DHS shutdown after February 13
If DHS funding is not extended beyond February 13 and the agency is shut down, USCIS would continue to process applications and petitions for immigration benefits because it is a fee-funded agency. Inspection functions at U.S. borders and ports of entry would remain in operation, including the processing of immigration applications at the border ICE enforcement activities and operations of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) would continue.
Congressional authorization for E-Verify would expire though it is possible that DHS could continue its operation during a shutdown, as it did during the Fall 2025 government shutdown.
SAVE – the USCIS database used by state and federal government agencies to verify an applicant’s immigration status when processing applications for benefits such as driver’s licenses – is expected to remain in operation during a shutdown.
What’s next
Whether DHS will be funded beyond the two-week period depends on the government negotiations related to ICE enforcement policies and practices. Fragomen will issue further client alerts as developments occur.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the effect of a possible shutdown on your organization, please contact the immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.
