Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy has announced that the state is “on the verge of reaching capacity” and will not guarantee housing for migrants as more than 7,000 people are currently living in shelters.
The Democrat warned Monday that the statewide emergency family shelter system will reach capacity by the end of the month, saying it has been expanding at an unsustainable pace to meet the demand of newly arrived migrant families.
As many as 40 families have entered the system in just 24 hours, and combined with a slower outflow of families already in long-term shelters, it means the state is on track to reach its capacity of 7,500 families — or about 24,000 people through the end of October.
‘Our reception system cannot expand indefinitely. This level of demand is not sustainable. We urgently need support from the federal government, which bears ultimate responsibility for the situation,” Healy said.
It stands in stark contrast to Healy’s previous stance on immigration: In 2017, as then-state attorney general, Healy defended communities that chose to call themselves sanctuary cities, meaning they chose not to comply with federal immigration laws, and said that this was not the case. a matter of politics, but of values.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy has announced that the state is ‘on the verge of reaching capacity’ and will not guarantee accommodations for migrants
Healey said the state is not giving up on the right to shelter law, but that after Nov. 1, families seeking shelter will be assessed and those with the highest needs, including health and safety risks, will be prioritized.
As a right-to-shelter state, Massachusetts is legally required to provide shelter to eligible families through its emergency assistance program. Families are currently spread across hundreds of locations in 90 cities and towns in a range of facilities, from traditional shelters to hotels and motels to temporary locations such as student dormitories.
Families who cannot immediately be placed in shelter are placed on a waiting list.
In 2017, Healey said: ‘I think it’s important that local communities retain the ability to say they want to designate themselves as a city of refuge.’
But now the governor, like Democratic mayors across the country, has changed her tune.
“The reality we face now is this. We do not have enough space, providers or funds to safely expand to more than 7,500 families,” Healey told reporters on Monday.
‘From that moment on, we can no longer guarantee a shelter for new families entering the system.’
The state is also working to help families already in shelters leave the system to help open more accommodations, she said.
Officials say about half of the people in the shelters are newcomers to Massachusetts, and more than half of them are children.
Healey again called on the federal government to fast-track work permits so newcomers can find jobs and start earning a living more quickly. She said many are willing and able to work, and the state has plenty of job openings.
In August, Healey announced she would activate up to 250 members of the Massachusetts National Guard to help at shelters and hotels as the state grapples with an influx of migrants.
The measure came after the governor declared a state of emergency due to the pressure on the reception system.
As many as 40 families have joined the system in just 24 hours, meaning the state is on track to reach its capacity of 7,500 families
The governor declared a state of emergency due to the pressure on the reception system
Woburn Mayor Scott Galvin, a Democrat, has sounded the alarm in the Massachusetts city, which is struggling with the migrant crisis.
A New York Times report said the small town of 40,000 had helped about 80 migrant families.
Elite liberal hub Martha’s Vineyard, one of the sanctuary cities chosen by conservative governors to transport migrants, has also said there is no room for asylum seekers in the billionaire enclave.
Last year, homelessness director Lisa Belcastro claimed that 50 migrants flown in by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis would have to go elsewhere.
The asylum seekers were put on a bus by then-liberal Governor Charlie Baker and taken with a police escort to Joint Base on Cape Cod, 52 miles from Martha’s Vineyard.
Other states and cities have also struggled to find shelter for migrants.
New York Mayor Eric Adams first welcomed migrants sent north by Republican Governor Greg Abbot, who argues that progressive cities should share the costs of what he sees as Democratic policies with open borders.
In August 2022, the mayor told reporters, “As mayor of New York, I have to provide services to families who are here, and that’s what we’re going to do – our responsibility as a city, and I’m proud that this is a Right to Shelter -state, and we will continue to do so.’
But the buses kept coming, and a year later, Adams is advocating for federal and state aid. He is asking a judge to suspend the Right to Shelter policy as the city struggles to find space for the 120,000 asylum seekers who have arrived since spring 2022. .
Adams has also limited the number of days adults and families can stay in city shelters.
In May, he made major changes to the city’s 40-year-old Right to Shelter law, which guarantees a bed for anyone who needs one, as his administration asked for federal and state help to deal with the surge of migrants which he now says could destroy New York as we know it.
“This issue will destroy New York City,” Adams has said of the influx of asylum seekers.
Governor Kathy Hochul, who also welcomed asylum seekers for the first time last year, supports the city’s efforts to suspend a unique legal agreement that requires homeless people to be given emergency housing.
Elite liberal hub Martha’s Vineyard, one of the sanctuary cities chosen by conservative governors to transport migrants, has also said there is no room for asylum seekers
“I don’t know how the right to shelter – intended to help those people that I believe in, to help families – can or should be interpreted as an open invitation to the eight billion people who live on this planet, that if you let on the streets of New York, the city of New York is obligated to provide you with a hotel room or shelter,” the Democrat said.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, Governor JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson wrote a letter to President Biden saying the situation has overwhelmed the city and its ability to help the asylum seekers. They are asking the federal government for financial support and a waiver of fees for migrants’ work permits.
Chicago has received more than 18,000 migrants in a year, and the city’s leaders have warned of an unfolding humanitarian crisis. Officials say the number of daily arrivals in the Windy City has increased tenfold in recent weeks.
Asylum seekers sleep in airports and police stations because the shelters of the reception city run out of space.
Like New Yorkers, Chicagoans have resisted turning landmarks into emergency shelters. Some even asked city officials to close the city’s borders, while Mayor Johnson quietly signed a $29 million contract with a security company to build base camps for migrants.
DeSantis flew into the two planes without giving any warning, leading to criticism from Democrats
Meanwhile, Chicago is struggling with more than 11,000 migrants in shelters and 4,000 staying in police stations and O’Hare International Airport (photo)
Hundreds of migrants sleep early on August 1 in line for placement at the intake center of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York
El Paso’s Democrat mayor, Oscar Leeser, also sent thousands to sanctuary cities last year, with Adams asking him to stop.
And this week, the Biden administration reversed its rejection of a border wall.
In a shocking announcement on Wednesday evening, the Department of Homeland Security said it is waiving 26 federal laws to begin building a new “physical barrier” started under Donald Trump.
The Biden White House has consistently condemned Trump’s harsh migration policies and even canceled wall construction when Biden took office.
Meanwhile, border crossings continue to increase – preliminary data obtained by found Border Patrol agents last month recorded an estimated 210,000 apprehensions – the third highest number on record.
The number of apprehensions in September is the highest since December 2022, when 222,000 migrants were apprehended, the second highest monthly figure ever.
According to data from CBS News, two million illegal migrants were intercepted crossing the border in the 2023 budget year, which ends at the end of September. That is the second highest annual figure ever measured.