MENDOTA, Calif. (KFSN) -- With the government shut down, around 750,000 federal employees are either furloughed, or being forced to work, with hopes they'll be paid in the future.

Employees at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Mendota are apart of those considered essential, and must keep working.

"A lot of our staff live paycheck to paycheck so grocery stores don't take 'I owe yous' babysitters don't take 'I owe yous' and you can't put hopes and dreams in your gas tank to get to and from work," said Aaron McGlothin with the American Federation of Government Employees for FCI Mendota.

Back in 2018, during President Trump's first term, those same workers were subjected to a record 35-day shutdown.

"Our staff, they put their lives on the line every single day dealing with th

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