On September 30, 2025, Congress was unable to reach an agreement on a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the federal government open. Without a CR in place, the federal government shut down at 12:01 AM on October 1, 2025. This is the first shutdown in nearly seven years.
The United States federal government shutdown will have a varied impact across the immigration system, primarily due to the differing sources of funding for various programs. During a government shutdown, federal workers are often furloughed, resulting in a temporary reduction in the overall size of the workforce. The workforce reduction could lead to increased backlogs for certain agencies and services.
While the Trump administration has not released any public agency-specific shutdown plans, we expect the following:
Visa and Employment Services
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services: USCIS is largely fee-funded, protecting it from the risks associated with a government shutdown. Most agency operations should continue as normal. Application interviews, naturalization ceremonies, biometrics processing, and the legal immigration system should remain unchanged during a shutdown.
However, USCIS employees put on leave would add to an already long backlog.
As it relates to LCA filings, USCIS has in the past accepted late filings where the LCA was delayed due to a government shutdown. We do not yet know if this precedent will be observed again.
What we’re watching for: The E-Verify system is funded by Congress.
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During a shutdown, employers would be unable to access the system and would be required to verify I-9 documents manually.
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However, USCIS may permit alternate verification processes, as it has done in the past.
While USCIS usually extends the period in which E-Verify compliance is required during shutdowns, there may still be impacts for federal contractors who are required to use E-Verify and employers in states that require the specific use of the E-Verify system.
U.S. Department of State: State Department visa adjudication and consular services are primarily fee-funded and generally remain operational during government shutdowns. However, if there are insufficient funds to support consular services at a particular consulate or embassy, the post may limit services to only diplomatic visas and adjudication of standard applications, only in “life or death” emergencies.
U.S. Department of Labor: DOL’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) will stop all operations during a government shutdown.
We would expect to encounter delays for the following immigration processes:
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Filing and processing labor condition applications (LCAs) for H-1B, E-3, and H-1B1 petitions
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Filing and processing PERM applications
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Filing and processing prevailing wage determinations
Law Enforcement Agencies
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Most of ICE’s work is deemed “essential” law enforcement work, and operations would continue without significant impact during a shutdown. We can expect that even during a shutdown, ICE will continue to conduct immigration enforcement, including arrests and raids, detention, and deportations.
ICE also maintains the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), ensuring no disruption in foreign student enrollment and maintenance of status.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed by Congress in July, provides ICE with $29.9 billion for enforcement and $5 billion for detention to be spent through September 2029. This funding continues even if the broader federal government shuts down.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Like ICE, the CBP’s law enforcement functions are deemed “essential” and will continue unaffected during a shutdown, although some support staff may be furloughed. Despite maintaining operations, the CBP workforce reductions could result in adjudication delays for certain applications filed at the border, including L-1 visas.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act funding may also provide CBP with ongoing operational funds to continue paying law enforcement officers during the shutdown.
Immigration Courts
Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR): Immigration courts are almost entirely funded by Congress, and in the event of a shutdown, they must suspend most non-essential operations. During previous shutdowns, all non-detained immigration court hearings were deemed “non-essential” and suspended.
The last government shutdown in 2018-2019 resulted in between 80,000 and 94,000 cases being put on hold. Today, there are three times as many pending cases already.
What’s Next
As the shutdown begins, there are still some unknowns about the broad impact of this shutdown on immigration.
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The Trump administration has threatened to use the shutdown as an opportunity to enact further changes to federal services; however, the specifics of these changes are unclear.
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Congress approved $150 billion in funding for immigration enforcement earlier this summer, a separate source of funds from the annual appropriations that immigration agencies receive. How that factors into agency operations is also unclear.
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President Trump told federal agencies to prepare for potential mass layoffs, and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directed agencies to create plans to eliminate jobs in areas that do not align with the administration’s priorities in the event of a government shutdown. The extent to which these potential layoffs will be far-reaching is also unclear.
While this story evolves, Erickson Immigration Group will monitor developments and share updates as more news is available. Please contact your employer or EIG attorney if you have questions about anything we’re reporting above or if you have case-specific questions.