Healey declares state of emergency for ‘unsustainable’ migrant housing crisis

By Jennifer Smith – Common Wealth Beacon

THE RATE OF MIGRANTS coming into Massachusetts, fleeing unsafe countries and looking for work and housing, is “unsustainable” without intervention from the federal government, Gov. Maura Healey said Tuesday. She declared a state of emergency, the state’s first since the 2020 start of the Covid-19 pandemic, to marshal state resources and issue an “urgent and formal appeal” to the federal government for assistance with the influx.

More than 5,500 families with children are living in state funded shelters, hotels, dormitories, and other emergency facilities across Massachusetts, up from 3,100 families needing the services last year, Healey said at a press conference. All told, more than 20,000 people are living in state shelter.

These families, which include very young children and pregnant women, represent a “humanitarian crisis,” Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said, surrounded by immigration and housing leaders.

Read more.

Source – Common Wealth Beacon

Published August 08, 2023