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Posted: 2019-01-18T14:09:10Z | Updated: 2019-01-18T17:24:45Z

NEW LONDON, Conn. As President Donald Trump and Congress continue to butt heads over the government shutdown , thousands of U.S. Coast Guard members and their families have been caught in the crossfire .

In few places is the strain more evident than New London, Connecticut an official Coast Guard City where cadets and enlisted members play a central role in the identity of this seaside community.

The Coast Guard Academy, based in New London since 1910, has seen at least 160 of its civilian faculty and staff furloughed since the partial government shutdown began Dec. 22. About 100 civilians whose duties have been deemed essential continue to work without pay. The Coast Guard reportedly has about 2,000 members in Connecticut working without pay, performing such duties as patrolling the states coastline from New York to Rhode Island.

And its not just the academys employees who are feeling the heat. The roughly 1,000 cadets enrolled at the school arent receiving their bi-weekly stipends during the shutdown, though they are still provided free food in the mess hall.