Trump to pay Ice and border agents amid shutdown as other federal workers go unpaid

The Trump administration has promised tens of thousands of federal agents carrying out his immigration crackdown that they will be paid during the government shutdown, according to emails seen by Reuters, even as other federal workers go without pay.

The pay plan was communicated to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) staff on Wednesday in separate internal emails seen by Reuters.

After the story was reported, Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said in a statement that more than 70,000 law enforcement officers across DHS including those at CBP, Ice, Secret Service and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will be paid.

They are to receive by 22 October a “supercheck” covering pay for all hours worked during the shutdown period and the next pay period, she said.

The decision shields the personnel, who are implementing one of Donald Trump’s top domestic priorities in the face of mounting public criticism, from the financial hardship many federal workers are experiencing during the shutdown.

The Trump administration has also said it will pay military troops and FBI agents during the shutdown.

The shutdown, which started 1 October, has suspended salary payments for hundreds of thousands of federal workers, even as many of them are still required to work because their jobs are considered essential.

It was not clear what funds Ice and CBP would use to provide pay to the workers. DHS did not answer a question about where the funding was coming from.