As the shutdown approaches 25 days, some folks have felt no impact. Some have felt moderate impacts. Some are massively impacted because they are not getting a paycheck and they are furloughed. Our lobbyist in Washington DC put together this list of impacts late last week (Jan. 10th):
"Subject: Impact of the
Government Shutdown
...the continuing impacts of the
shutdown are detailed below:
Immigration
With no funding for the
Department of Homeland Security, immigration officials and border
patrol officers are among those furloughed or working without pay. While judges and clerks are
home, asylum cases are continuing to pile on to an already backlogged system,
reaching over 1 million on the docket. Neither are companies able to utilize
the E-Verify system to ensure they are hiring documented works, as the service
are unavailable until the funding crisis is resolved. This issue means many
companies, such as manufacturing firms who hire primarily immigrants, are scrambling
to find workers.
Meanwhile, unpaid agents are
taking in more than 2,000 migrants per day, many of them families and children,
and have nowhere to detain them. This has led to the undocumented immigrants being
released into border cities. There are also many asylum seekers coming to the
border crossing with influenza, bronchitis, and other infectious diseases. Two
children have already died in U.S Border Control and Protection custody, leading
to extreme tension and concern over welfare.
Of the 245,000 employees at DHS,
only about 14% will be paid. 179.000 will work unpaid, while
