BOSTON — Federal workers in Massachusetts who aren't getting paychecks amid the lingering government shutdown are calling on President Donald Trump to drop his demand for funding for a wall on the southern U.S. border.
A group of furloughed federal workers rallied with Democratic U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and other supporters in Boston Friday to urge that the Republican president put an end to the shutdown so they can get back to work.
>> Federal workers in Boston plan protest amid government shutdown
Leiran Biton is a furloughed scientist with the Environmental Protection Agency. The 39-year-old says it's unfair that his family and others are suffering when their jobs have nothing to do with border security or immigration.
Markey said Trump is using federal workers and their families as "pawns" and "hostages" in a political game.
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