U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Rule Changes

Gains expanded authority over import compliance

For decades, importing into the United States mostly meant filing forms and paying duties. A new executive order changes the deal. Importers must now certify their supply chains comply with sanctions and anti-smuggling law, disclose who really owns their business, and hold enough U.S. assets to cover what they owe.

Updated Yesterday

Rule Changes

Operating the CAPE refund portal

The U.S. government has never had to give back $166 billion it collected illegally — until now. On April 20, CBP launched the CAPE (Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries) portal for importers to reclaim tariff payments the Supreme Court ruled unlawful. The first phase covers $127 billion across more than 56,000 registered importers.

Updated May 31

Rule Changes

Separately funded, operations continue

The U.S. Senate passed a DHS funding bill by voice vote at 2:20 a.m. on March 27, 2026. It ends the partial shutdown that began February 14 for most agencies, but leaves out ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and most U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Updated May 29

Force in Play

Partner agency in operation

From December 4, 2025, to February 12, 2026, Minneapolis hosted Operation Metro Surge, the largest federal immigration enforcement operation in American history: 2,000 agents, 4,000+ arrests, two U.S. citizens fatally shot. On February 12, White House border czar Tom Homan announced the operation's conclusion, declaring Minnesota 'now less of a sanctuary state.'

Updated May 27

Rule Changes

Border Patrol agents involved in Pretti shooting

A three-day partial government shutdown ended February 3 when the House passed a split funding package 217-214 and Trump signed it. The deal provides full-year appropriations for five agencies through September and extends DHS funding through February 13.

Updated May 23

Force in Play

Agents killed Alex Pretti, facing scrutiny over Minneapolis operations

Three Minnesota congresswomen entered a Minneapolis ICE detention center on January 10 but were ordered out minutes later. They'd come three days after an ICE agent shot 37-year-old U.S. citizen Renee Good in the head during what the Trump administration called the largest immigration enforcement operation ever. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem secretly signed a seven-day notice rule the day after Good's killing—a rule a federal judge had already blocked—and Judge Jia Cobb refused to block it on January 20.

Updated May 20

Rule Changes

Controls airport inspection designations and the fee-based access model

The U.S. border moves at airports too, quietly, through paperwork. CBP's latest technical amendment adds five airports to its user-fee list and removes Ontario, California.

Updated May 15

Rule Changes

Controls port-of-entry parole decisions and tracks encounters used in DHS rationale

DHS just turned a promised “legal pathway” into a ticking clock. A Federal Register notice published December 15, 2025 terminates every Family Reunification Parole program tied to seven countries—and tells people already here that their parole will end on January 14, 2026.

Updated May 15