Current:Home > MarketsMassachusetts governor declares state of emergency amid influx of migrants seeking shelter-LoTradeCoin
Massachusetts governor declares state of emergency amid influx of migrants seeking shelter
View Date:2024-12-24 10:45:57
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency Tuesday, citing an influx of migrants seeking shelter at a time when the cost of housing — already in short supply — continues to rise.
There are nearly 5,600 families or more than 20,000 people – many of whom are migrants -- currently living in state shelters, including infants, young children and pregnant women. That is up from around 3,100 families a year ago, about an 80% increase, Healey said.
Many of the migrants are arriving by plane from other states. In the past 48 hours alone, she said, 50 migrant families have landed in the state in need of shelter.
“It’s exponentially more than our state has ever served in our emergency assistance program,” she said. “These numbers are being driven by a surge in new arrivals in our country who have been through some of the hardest journeys imaginable.”
The migrants arriving in Massachusetts are the face of the international migrant crisis and are coming at a time when the state is already experiencing a housing crunch, Healey said.
She called on the federal government for financial help, and more urgently, expedited work authorizations to allow the new arrivals to more quickly find jobs and start earning a living, she wrote in a letter to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.
In the letter, Healey pointed to work authorizations as a primary driver of the crisis. Currently, she said, it can take weeks, months or more than a year to receive the authorizations.
“Our new arrivals are most eager to work. The last thing they want is to be dependent,” she said.
As part of the emergency declaration, Healey said she is renewing a call to local organizations that can assist those seeking shelter as well as to people interested in sponsoring a family in their home.
The state has also launched a new migrant relief fund to help raise money to aid migrants.
The contributions will be used to help pay for a range of goods and services for migrants, including food, clothing, diapers and transportation as well as health screenings, translation services, legal assistance and English classes.
As a right-to-shelter state, Massachusetts is legally required to provide eligible families shelter through its emergency assistance program.
Geralde Gabeau, executive director of the Immigrant Family Services Institute, has worked with immigrants arriving from Haiti and said they are ready to get to work.
“The new families coming to our communities are wonderful human beings,” she said. “They are ready to work. They are ready to contribute to our economies.”
Healey and state lawmakers should rescind the state’s right-to-shelter policy, said Paul Diego Craney of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, a conservative group.
“Perhaps it is time for the governor to take a trip to the southern border to see firsthand the open southern border crisis,” he said in a statement.
More than 80 cities and towns across the state have already felt the impact of new migrants and support the emergency declatarion, said Geoff Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association.
“Community leaders want state and federal agencies to step in to provide these families with the services and support they need to be safe and healthy,” he said.
Other states have faced challenges with soaring numbers of migrants.
On Monday, New York Mayor Eric Adams announced a plan to house as many as 2,000 migrants on an island in the East River where a migrant center was set up last year and then taken down weeks later.
Some states led by Republicans — including Texas and Florida — have bused or flown immigrants to states and cities led by Democrats, including California, Massachusetts. New York and Chicago.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last year flew 49 Venezuelan migrants to the upscale Massachusetts enclave of Martha’s Vineyard.
veryGood! (8219)
Related
- McDonald's Version: New Bestie Bundle meals celebrate Swiftie friendship bracelets
- 1 person dead after shooting inside Washington state movie theater
- Take a Bite Out of The Real Housewives of New York City Reboot's Drama-Filled First Trailer
- Michigan County Embraces Giant Wind Farms, Bucking a Trend
- 1 monkey captured, 42 monkeys still on the loose after escaping research facility in SC
- Minnesota Groups Fear Environmental Shortcuts in Enbridge’s Plan to Rebuild Faulty Pipeline
- U.S. Nuclear Fleet’s Dry Docks Threatened by Storms and Rising Seas
- Can Trump Revive Keystone XL? Nebraskans Vow to Fight Pipeline Anew
- Chiefs block last-second field goal to save unbeaten record, beat Broncos
- The FDA no longer requires all drugs to be tested on animals before human trials
Ranking
- College football top five gets overhaul as Georgia, Miami both tumble in US LBM Coaches Poll
- The FDA no longer requires all drugs to be tested on animals before human trials
- Qantas on Brink of £200m Biojet Fuel Joint Venture
- How Damar Hamlin's collapse fueled anti-vaccine conspiracy theories
- Federal judge blocks Louisiana law that requires classrooms to display Ten Commandments
- How are Trump's federal charges different from the New York indictment? Legal experts explain the distinctions
- Open enrollment for ACA insurance has already had a record year for sign-ups
- Kate Spade 24-Hour Flash Deal: Get a $300 Packable Tote Bag for Just $69
Recommendation
-
Florida education officials report hundreds of books pulled from school libraries
-
What's the #1 thing to change to be happier? A top happiness researcher weighs in
-
Ryan Shazier was seriously injured in an NFL game. He has advice for Damar Hamlin
-
As Diesel Spill Spreads, So Do Fears About Canada’s Slow Response
-
Federal judge blocks Louisiana law that requires classrooms to display Ten Commandments
-
Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny Were Twinning During Night Out at Lakers Game
-
How Tom Brady Honored Exes Gisele Bündchen and Bridget Moynahan on Mother's Day 2023
-
Jill Biden had three skin lesions removed