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Healey declares state of emergency in response to surge of migrants entering Mass.

Gov. Maura Healey called on the federal government to provide funding and speed up work authorizations.

By Ross Cristantiello

August 8, 2023

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Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency Tuesday in response to both a surge in migrants coming to Massachusetts and the ongoing housing crisis. 

With Healey’s declaration comes an “urgent and formal appeal” to the federal government for help speeding up work authorization for migrants and for funding. 

Close to 5,600 families with children are living in state-funded facilities across the state, Healey said. That represents an 80% increase from one year ago. 

Demand for emergency shelter has spiked even more prominently over the past six months. In March, 68 families a day were seeking assistance at the state’s various field offices. More than 100 families were seeking assistance in July, according to a letter Healey sent to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas Tuesday. 

“They are here because where they came from is too dangerous to stay. They are here because Massachusetts has, and will always be, a beacon of hope, compassion, humanity, and opportunity. They are here because, like any of us, they would do anything, endure any hardship, to protect and support the people they love, especially their children,” Healey said, speaking of migrants coming to Massachusetts. 

The state is adding shelter units each week, and spending $45 million on programs to help these families, but will not be able to keep up with demand unless “extraordinary measures” are taken, Healey wrote. 

Healey’s emergency declaration allows her to call up National Guard members to help more quickly. It also lets the state bypass regular procurement rules in bid processes for vendors and contractors, allowing them to be hired faster. Healey can also now formally appeal to President Biden for relief funding.

‘Most eager to work’

At a press conference Tuesday morning, Healey repeatedly emphasized the importance of expediting work authorizations. Those coming to the state have a strong desire to work, and Massachusetts needs them because of “significant” labor shortages, she said. 

“The truth is, our new arrivals are most eager to work. The last thing they want to do is be dependent, and we could frankly use their help at this time,” Healey said. 

Work authorizations are being delayed by months and sometimes years, according to the governor. Speaking on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” Tuesday afternoon, Healey said that the federal government expedited work authorizations for migrants from Ukraine and Afghanistan in the past, and said the same thing must happen now. 

These concerns were echoed in a recent letter to Mayorkas and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ur M. Jaddou from the state’s federal delegation. 

Many migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela are not automatically authorized to work here, they wrote, and must apply with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It frequently takes six months or more for these applications to be processed.

Stuck in shelters

While they wait, migrants are stuck in shelters without any way of legally supporting themselves and their families. Due to the state’s 1983 “right-to-shelter” law, officials must act quickly to shelter eligible families. Healey and the federal delegation said they are not opposed to this law, but acknowledged that it is a factor in the increased strain on the shelter system. 

At the moment, shelter entries per month are more than double than what they were during the height of the pandemic and about one-third higher than pre-pandemic levels, Healey wrote to Mayorkas. 

While more people come in, fewer are transitioning into permanent housing. The amount of families leaving shelters has declined by almost two-thirds since 2019, Healey wrote. She cited current immigration laws, work authorization delays, the influx of new arrivals, and lack of affordable housing. 

“Our Emergency Assistance system is designed to be a temporary, emergency safety-net program,” Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said. “It is not equipped to handle the demand that we have seen in recent months. While we have made herculean efforts to expand capacity as much as possible, we’ve reached a point where the expansion is unsustainable.”

Earlier this year, Healey opened a temporary shelter for families at Joint Base Cape Cod and two new family “welcome centers” in Allston and Quincy. Officials are also relying on empty dorm rooms and hotels to house those in need. 

The Migrant Families Relief Fund

On Tuesday, Healey also announced the creation of the Massachusetts Migrant Families Relief Fund, launched by United Way of Massachusetts Bay and The Boston Foundation. This will be used to quickly send financial aid that will allow families to get essentials like food, clothing, diapers, hygiene items, and transportation.

It will also fund things like health screenings, translation services, and legal assistance. Local community-based organizations will be able to supplement their budgets with dollars from this fund. 

Two large initial donations to the fund were announced: Eastern Bank pledged $100,000, while Blue Cross Blue Shield pledged $50,000, Healey said. 

Officials urged those interested in helping to visit a new web page, mass.gov/sheltercrisis.

Speaking with GBH, Healey said she does not expect the surge in people coming to the state to abate anytime soon. 

“We see that the administration, communities, and our existing shelter infrastructure have really been maxing out. We just simply are running out of capacity,” she said.