Local news
Governor Maura Healey has a message for migrants entering the United States across the southern border: Massachusetts cannot provide them with shelter.
Massachusetts' shelter system, which serves the homeless and migrant families, is overwhelmed. Healey can also be one in every of the few state leaders to support Biden's sweeping asylum ban as Massachusetts struggles to accommodate the influx of migrants.
Families entering the country could go to Massachusetts due to its unique “right to shelter” law. Since Healey declared a state of emergency in 2023 as a result of a scarcity of emergency shelters, Massachusetts has imposed unprecedented restrictions on the law.
Last fall, Healey's administration capped the variety of families within the system at 7,500, which some advocates said violated the law. In March, lawmakers addressed further capability issues and approved a 9-month stay limit within the system, with exceptions. The state will begin issuing eviction notices next month.
According to a press release Tuesday, Healey has sent five members of her administration to Texas to network with federal agencies, stakeholders and newly arriving residents. They will “educate families about the lack of homeless shelters in Massachusetts,” the press release said.
“It is imperative that we spread the word that our emergency shelters are full so families can plan accordingly to ensure they have a safe place to go,” emergency relief director general Scott Rice said in an announcement.
Rice will likely be accompanied by other officials involved with the state's shelter system and immigration authorities. They will visit locations reminiscent of the San Antonio airport and other points of entry in McAllen, Hidalgo and Brownsville, Texas.
Healey's office said these are the places where migrant families attempting to get to Massachusetts are most frequently intercepted.
“This trip is an important opportunity to meet with families arriving in the United States and the organizations working with them at the border to ensure they have accurate information about the emergency shelter shortage in Massachusetts,” Rice said.
image credit : www.boston.com