How a Dept. of Homeland Security Shutdown Would Affect San Diego

While the political fight over funding the Department of Homeland Security is playing out in Washington, the dilemma could hit close to home for thousands of DHS employees in San Diego.

More than 500,000 people cross the border between San Ysidro, Tecate and Otay Mesa a day, keeping officers with Customs and Border Protection on their toes as they look for threats โ€” DHS shutdown or not.

โ€œWe're essential personnel and we'll be there without a paycheck, but we will still be out there protecting the border,โ€ said Shawn Moran, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council.

However, some of the areaโ€™s 2,200 Border Patrol agents might be called in to replace other furloughed border employees.

Moran said a loss of income would greatly affect many workers living paycheck to paycheck.

โ€œObviously our newer agents are not making the same amount of money as our veteran agents, but even those agents, this is a high cost of living area -- -the highest along either border,โ€ he said.

The U.S. Coast Guard has nearly 500 people, active duty and reserve, protecting San Diego's port and coastline.

โ€œMost Coast Guard personnel in the San Diego area are military members and will remain on the job in the event of a lapse in funding,โ€ spokesperson Dan Dewell said in a statement. "While such a lapse has significant impacts to our workforce and long term planning, the Coast Guard will continue activities that provide for national security, or that protect life and property."

But discretionary training, routine patrols or other operations may be reduced, deferred or canceled.

Also under the DHS umbrella are Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Transportation Safety Administration, charged with securing the skies operating out of Lindbergh Field. There are 400 TSA employees working at the San Diego International Airport, many of whom are essential employees.

A spokesperson for TSA said they too will report to work whether they are being paid.

Moran said while DHS employees worry about security of the nation, many of them are wondering Friday who has their backs.

โ€œOur agents are basically hostages in a political standoff between Congress and the President,โ€ he said.

On Friday, Congress narrowly avoided a DHS shutdown when the House passed a one-week extension of its funding just two hours before the deadline. The impasse began after congressional Republicans tried to add measures in the bill that would halt President Obama's executive action on immigration, which they call unconstitutional.

Democrats, however, refused to pass anything other than a clean funding bill. The House will reconvene Monday to take up the debate again.

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