By Jasper Ward and Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has told all furloughed employees to return to work despite the ongoing partial government shutdown, according to a notice sent to employees on Friday.
The recall notice said that all currently furloughed employees are to return to duty on their next regularly scheduled workday, which for most will be Monday.
The notice mentioned an April 3 memo published by the White House in which President Donald Trump signed an emergency order to pay every DHS employee the equivalent compensation and benefits lost during the partial shutdown of the agency.
A Trump administration official separately confirmed that DHS has told all employees to return to work and that Trump’s directive from last week orders that they be paid.
A partial U.S. government shutdown has been ongoing for nearly two months. Most DHS employees are deemed “essential,” which means that they are required to work during a shutdown. DHS has 270,000 employees.
Lawmakers in the U.S. Congress are yet to agree to a fiscal 2026 funding measure for DHS.
Democrats have been critical of Trump’s immigration crackdown, especially his use of agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of DHS.
Trump’s crackdown has been condemned by rights groups who say it violates due process and free speech and also creates an unsafe environment, particularly for minorities.
Trump has defended his actions by saying they aim to improve domestic security and curb illegal immigration.
There was particular scrutiny of ICE after federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens earlier this year in Minnesota.
DHS chief Markwayne Mullin “will be utilizing available funding to recall the entire DHS workforce” to get employees back to work, a DHS spokesperson told the Federal News Network while blaming Democrats for the partial shutdown.
The spokesperson said the workforce’s “paychecks are now being processed.”
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Sam Holmes)
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