Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Tuesday declared a state of emergency to address state's the growing migrant crisis.
The Bay State has long been a national leader when it comes to providing resources to those in need, but the governor said the state is overwhelmed.
As one of the country's only right to shelter states, Massachusetts is required to provide emergency housing to families in need.
When thousands of migrants from Haiti arrived at Logan Airport in Boston during May, state leaders decided to temporarily house them in hotels and motels across the state.
These families include newborns, very young children, and expecting mothers," Healey said. "It's more families than our state has every served, exponentially more than our state has ever served."Right now, more than 5,600 people are seeking emergency shelter in the Commonwealth, many of whom are families with young children.
Clarion Hotel in Taunton, the city's only hotel option, is one of many hotels that are temporarily housing migrants. However, city leaders there say they were left out of the entire process.
It's really been a challenge, especially with the way it all started, where we didn't know about it, and our hotel got closed down without our consent and knowledge,” Mayor Shaunna O'Connell said.The mayor also said the city was misled about the number of migrants that would be staying at the hotel, and she believes the facility is still over capacity. This led to the city fining the Clarion Hotel $1,000 a day since May 26.
They need to show us that they are in compliance and they have neglected to do that so we continue to fine them,” O'Connell said.The governor said her administration has been working around the clock to help these families obtain work permits, but she said can't do that without help from the federal government.
That's why Healey declared the state of emergency, a move she believes will direct the right resources to those in need.
I am directing members of my administration to utilize and operationalize all means necessary to secure housing, shelter, health and human services to address this humanitarian crisis," Healey said.ncG1vNJzZmihlJa1sLrEsKpnm5%2BifK%2Bx1qxmp5mknryvedaoqaWcX6KutL%2FAnJ%2Buq5WpwbR5xqitnqqepL9usMSco5qqlah6tMDArZxmp5Zisq6x0aCcp5upYry3sdFmpKKfopa7tXnCq6CsoaNitbDB0qKloGWVorKzs8SnmrJlo52yrcDEq2ShmZmptm60zq2cpatdory1scusZJ%2BZnZ65qrHSZpqhoZyZv6a6jKmcq6WZqcA%3D