article_snippet: The agents, along with other employees vital to national security such as TSA screeners, will have to show up to work without being paid if Congress misses a Friday deadline to keep the Department of Homeland Security funded.
article_snippet: Thousands of other agency workers will be furloughed.
article_snippet: The employees are caught up in a fight over immigration policy.
article_snippet: Local employees of the Department of Homeland Security stationed along the border said Local employees of the Department of Homeland Security stationed along the border weren't allowed to speak to newsgroups on the record because of orders directly from Washington.
article_snippet: The agents argued The agents have families to feed and mortgages to pay, just like anyone else.
article_snippet: If a shutdown were to happen later this week, Cabrera said that nonessential personnel, such as administration positions in the department, would not report to work.
article_snippet: Agents would continue to work securing the border, but depending on how long the shutdown lasts, Agents'd eventually have to work in some of the administrative positions as well to make up for employees who were furloughed.
article_snippet: Most likely what will happen is that Agents'll have to pull agents who do frontline work, processing work, or stuff in the station," Cabrera said.
article_snippet: Agents're going to have to backfill Agents -- you know somebody has to answer the phones at the front of the building.
highlights_snippet: The border town is home to people who depend on their paychecks from their Homeland Security jobs .