Border agents brace for shutdown, work without pay during holidays

Lauren Villagran, USA TODAY

December 20, 2024 at 6:17 PM

EL PASO, Texas - If the federal government shuts down Friday, U.S. border crossings will stay open and border agents will keep working through the holidays - without pay, at least temporarily.

Nearly three-quarters of Homeland Security personnel are considered essential and would keep working, even if Congress fails to strike a compromise to pay the government's bills.

Along the U.S. northern and southern borders, roughly 19,000 Border Patrol agents will be required to show up for work. The majority of agents patrol the vast U.S.-Mexico border region, staffing field stations, interior checkpoints and temporary holding facilities, as they work to intercept smugglers and migrants who cross illegally.

Another 25,000 U.S. customs officers would be required to work at some 300 land and air ports of entry. At land ports like the ones in El Paso, Texas, officers process the tens of thousands of residents, workers and students who cross each day, as well as billions of dollars in trade.

Lawmakers on Thursday rejected a deal backed by President-elect Donald Trump to fund swaths of the U.S. government, upping the risk of a partial shutdown heading into the holiday season.

Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

CBP officers brace for shutdown, work without pay

Customs officers are the "last line of defense" in intercepting illegal drugs like fentanyl, weapons and ammunition, smuggled migrants or agricultural products that can harm the U.S. food supply, said Gustavo "Gus" Sánchez, president of the local chapter of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents customs officers.

CBP essential workers are bracing for a shutdown that could upend their finances and derail their holiday plans, Sánchez said. The last time officers endured a shutdown in 2018, Sánchez was forced to put off treatment for a heart condition, he said, and many officers have to make similar tough choices.

"We feel like pawns," he said.

More: As government shutdown looms, here's where federal workers would be most affected

Congressional representatives "do whatever they want with us and it's not fair. They're not losing money. They're in a nice cushy job. We have to show up. We'll eventually get paid but you know how it feels that I have to go to work and I don't have money for gas? It's very disheartening."

Homeland Security personnel would receive back pay in the event of a shutdown, but uncertainty over how long a shutdown lasts strains the workforce and hurts morale, Sánchez said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: As shutdown looms, border agents brace for shutdown, skipped paychecks