The flow of migrants into Massachusetts has strained the state’s shelter system such it is now forecast to hit the breaking point by the end of the month, according to the governor.
On Monday, Gov. Maura Healey announced that the tens of thousands currently living in state-provided housing may be among the last the state can afford to shelter. Without intervention by the Biden Administration, Healey said, the system will not be able to help any further.
“For months now, we have been expanding shelter capacity at an unsustainable rate to meet rising demand. Despite the heroic work of public officials, shelter providers and the National Guard, we have reached a point where we can no longer safely or responsibly expand,” Healey said.
According to the governor, as of October 16 there are 7,000 families — 23,000 individuals, she said, half of whom are children and all of whom are here legally — using the state shelter system. Massachusetts is alone among the 50 states in guaranteeing women with children and families access to shelter by law.
That “right to shelter” provision has run up against a migrant influx the state was never prepared to handle on its own, Healey said. The state is not, she stressed, doing away with the right to shelter law, but after the end of the month families in need of shelter may have to wait for space to free.
In light of the migrant crisis slowly building in the Bay State, Healey announced on Monday she would appoint retired Lt. Gen. Scott Rice as the Emergency Assistance Director. Rice previously served as the Adjutant General of the Massachusetts National Guard and will coordinate the state’s response to the crisis going forward.
“General Rice has extensive experience leading large scale emergency management operations, and we are confident he is the right person to lead us through this new phase of the emergency shelter system,” Healy said.
Healey also announced that the administration will connect migrants in shelters with job training through a partnership with Commonwealth Corporation Foundation while they wait for work authorization.
When asked if her message should serve as a warning to migrants that Massachusetts is full, the governor said that, at the very least, shelter may not immediately be provided to anyone who arrives.
“It’s certainly a communication that we are reaching capacity and therefore don’t expect to be able to house people the way we’ve been able to house people in the existing infrastructure,” she said.
The Healey Administration and leaders in the Legislature have been pleading with the President Joe Biden and his staff to intervene in Massachusetts. Last week, officials from the Department of Homeland Security were in the Bay State to survey the situation on the ground.
So far, however, it seems the Commonwealth is on its own.
“It’s now time for the state to approve more funding for shelters and for Congress to get its act together and pass immigration reform that allows immigrants to work,” Elizabeth Sweet, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said after the governor’s announcement.
