Controversial new Boston migrant shelter is unveiled: Massachusetts’ Dem. Governor seized cherished recreation center in deprived, majority-black neighborhood, infuriating locals

Migrants arrived Wednesday at a repurposed sports center in a Boston neighborhood as locals angrily demanded to know where they could now hold their usual workouts.

Maura Healey, the governor of Massachusetts, and Michelle Wu, the mayor of Boston, both visited the Melnea Cass Recreational Center in Roxbury on Wednesday – inspecting the cots and children’s play area.

The site will house up to 400 migrants until the end of May, and authorities have promised upgrades to the facilities as a sweetener when the migrants eventually leave.

But many in the historically black and marginalized community were angry about the decision to transfer their sports center.

“We sympathize with them, we as people in a community we love, but sometimes we love so many despite ourselves,” said resident and community activist Clifton Braithwaite.

Tony DaRocha, who coaches young athletes for free at the Boston United Track and Cross-Country club, said he has not been told where his team can go next — with a meet scheduled for Sunday.

“We sympathize with what is going on,” he said CBS News.

“But at the same time, our children are being negatively affected. Our program is one of the few stable times in their lives.”

One of the athletes, Andy Suarez, added: “I’ve been coming here for two years and it’s a second home to me.”

Protesters were at the sports center on Wednesday, holding up signs asking why their children were being forced to leave.

Healey said at a news conference: “We are here today because we really have no choice.”

Wu added: “There is pain and recognition. This is not the first time the community has been asked to make sacrifices. We will work with the state to ensure all options are on the table.”

Last week, about 100 migrant men, women and children camped out at Boston’s main international airport, as the state’s shelter system reached capacity in November and Healey pleaded with the federal government to do more to help.

Imagery obtained by CBS News showed rows of people sleeping on the floor. One woman, Keturah Douze, said she had collected hygiene products to help them.

“While they’re at the airport, they don’t have access to a shower, so there’s some shower wipes and small towels, just to clean up while they wait,” she said.

The scenes at Boston airport replicated those at Chicago’s O’Hare. On Jan. 4, 216 migrants were sleeping at the airport, WGN 9 reported.

Massachusetts shelters reached capacity in November, with 7,500 families in the system. Some are now housed in hospital waiting rooms and church halls.

Healey demanded on Jan. 22 that the federal government do more to help. When migrants were stranded at the airport in November and sought refuge, the airport’s CEO said the situation was “not sustainable.”

‘We need DC to take action. We need Congress to take action,” she said at a news conference.

“The path is there in terms of what needs to happen to resolve the border situation, to resolve some of the asylum processes and to get some much-needed funding for some of the interior states that have had to bear the burden for a problem that is geopolitical and not created by the state.’

Healey asked for an additional $250 million to address the crisis this year.

Her office estimates the crisis could cost Massachusetts $915 million next year.

Healey praised airport staff and state police for their assistance with the migrants.

“The airport has been a great partner and I would really like to thank the people at the airport who are doing a fantastic job, including members of the State Police who are working their regular shifts but managing the inflow and outflow of people from the airport,” she said.

In November, Massport interim CEO Ed Freni told reporters that the airport is “not a suitable place” for migrants to stay, as 20 to 25 migrants arrive per day and some sleep in the facility.

“When they come to Logan, we meet them and try to help them, but we have to emphasize that Logan is not a suitable place to house people,” Freni told reporters.

The airport is working with partners to transport the migrants to shelters and is looking at “other solutions in the future,” Freni said.

Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has been sending busloads of migrants from his northern state since 2022 to get Democratic mayors and governors to share his fight — and to put pressure on Joe Biden.

The policy has worked: Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, has been particularly outspoken in demanding that Biden, a fellow Democrat, do more.

New York City has seen 33,600 of the 90,000 migrants sent north by Abbott. Most of the rest went to Chicago and Washington DC.

Abbott has not sent buses to Boston, but many migrants, struggling in already flooded cities, have landed in Boston.

In August, Healey declared a state of emergency for her state.

She said 80 percent more immigrants had arrived than before.

“It’s exponentially more than our state has ever served in our emergency response program,” she said.

“These numbers are driven by a wave of newcomers to our country who have experienced some of the most difficult journeys imaginable.”