Massachusetts Democrat governor declares state of emergency over migrant surge

There are roughly 5,600 families or more than 20,000 people in the state shelter system.

Published: August 8, 2023 2:30pm

Updated: August 8, 2023 3:22pm

Massachusetts Democrat Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency on Tuesday due to the surge of migrants in the Old Bay State. 

Healey said the emergency occurred due to "rapid and unabating increases in the number of families with children and pregnant people — many of them newly arriving migrants and refugees — living within the state but without the means to secure safe shelter in our communities."

There are roughly 5,600 families or more than 20,000 people in the state shelter system, according to Fox News.

Healey said that last month that there were 100 families a day seeking emergency shelter and the costs are hitting $45 million a month on programs for the migrants. 

She wrote in a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that there's been a "a confusing tangle of immigration laws, an inability for migrants to obtain work authorization from the federal government, an increase in the number of people coming to Massachusetts, and the lack of an affordable housing supply in our state."

Healey also called for Mayorkas to address the "outdated and punitive immigration laws."



 

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