The longest shutdown of any single federal agency in United States history ended April 30 when President Donald Trump signed a bill restoring funding to most of the Department of Homeland Security. The House passed the measure by voice vote on the 76th day of the partial shutdown. The bill funds the TSA, the Secret Service, FEMA, and Customs and Border Protection, but leaves ICE without a new annual appropriation — that funding is to follow through a reconciliation bill.
The shutdown began February 14, rooted in a stalemate over immigration enforcement reform following the January killing of Alex Pretti by CBP agents. Democrats demanded oversight conditions before approving CBP funding; Republicans refused. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned in late April that emergency reserves were nearly gone. More than 1,100 TSA agents had quit from a workforce of roughly 50,000 by late April.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, chair of the Senate Budget Committee, played a central role in the resolution. Graham moved a budget blueprint through the Senate that would fund ICE and the Border Patrol for three and a half years through the reconciliation process, which requires only 50 Senate votes rather than the 60 needed to clear a filibuster. On April 30, Graham called on Senate Republicans to complete that bill, crediting Republican unity for advancing full border funding that Democrats had declined to support.
The shutdown carried direct consequences for the Greenville-Spartanburg area. CBP officers at the Greenville-Spartanburg Port of Entry in Greer handle cargo clearance tied to Inland Port Greer, the SC Ports Authority facility on International Commerce Boulevard that moves containers between Charleston and Upstate manufacturers on the Norfolk Southern rail line serving including BMW Manufacturing. The restoration of CBP funding removes the staffing uncertainty that had shadowed those operations for 76 days.
On May 1, May Day demonstrations drew crowds nationwide under the “No Kings” banner, coordinated by more than 500 labor unions and community groups. In South Carolina, the Party for Socialism and Liberation rallied at the State House in Columbia at 4 p.m. before marching to the federal ICE office downtown. Organizer Samantha Rainwater and Shandon Presbyterian Church pastor Jenny McDevitt were among the event planners. Greenville community groups held mutual aid and protest events aligned with the national call. Trump designated May 1 as “Loyalty Day,” and Republicans have set a June 1 target to complete the reconciliation bill funding ICE and CBP.
