Per week after Gov. Maura Healey made a public plea for federal {dollars} to assist with an emergency shelter disaster partly fueled by an inflow of migrants, it’s unclear simply how a lot cash she desires to circulation Massachusetts’ manner.
A spokesperson for the governor declined to say if there’s a specific greenback determine Healey is in search of from federal companies after declaring a state of emergency final week, as native shelters refill with an ever-increasing variety of migrants arriving from different nations.
“Our administration has been in conversation with [the U.S. Department of Homeland Security] and the [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] since declaring the state of emergency and as the situation evolves. We don’t have further comment,” the spokesperson stated in response to questions on how a lot funding Massachusetts is searching for.
Healey stated in a letter to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that Massachusetts “can no longer” deal with the shelter disaster alone.
“We need federal partnership, federal funding, and urgent federal action to meet this moment and to continue to serve some of our most vulnerable families,” she stated.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security offered greater than $2.8 million in federal funding to the City of Boston by a handful of shelter- and food-related applications, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated in an announcement final week.
“The administration will continue to collaborate directly with city and state officials to coordinate our efforts and we continue to call on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform,” the spokesperson stated.
Healey paired her funding request with a name to expedite work authorizations for migrants, which she stated was a key driver of the emergency shelter disaster.
“We should be making it easier, not harder, to work in this country,” U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss stated in a one line assertion to the Herald final week.
U.S. Congressman Seth Moulton stated the choice to declare a state of emergency was the “right thing” and the scenario Massachusetts faces is a “perfect storm of failures,” together with inaction on immigration by the federal authorities and an absence of reasonably priced housing within the state.
“In the short term, we need federal assistance to abate the immediate crisis so that the people who have ended up in our communities have a tenable path forward,” Moulton stated in an announcement to the Herald final week. “Congress has no choice but to pursue real immigration reform that includes increased border security, a path to citizenship, and fixing our broken asylum system.”
Healey’s spokesperson additionally didn’t say if Healey or Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll have provided their very own non-public residences to function hosts for households in want of quick shelter after Driscoll referred to as on Massachusetts residents to take action.
At a press convention final week, Driscoll urged these with an additional room of their dwelling to think about internet hosting a household, together with newly arrived migrants. Local nonprofits have sought to recruit residents to briefly home migrant households for a couple of days earlier than they’re transferred to different short-term housing.
There have been 5,706 households in state shelters as of Aug. 13, a rise of 156 from Aug. 7, the day the state of emergency was declared, a spokesperson for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities stated.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”