Massachusetts declares a State of Emergency and runs out of shelters due to the wave of migrants

Since the arrival of Joe Biden to the White House, all the records for the arrival of migrants at the borders of the United States have been broken, in what the Republicans have called the “call effect” for their promises of asylum policies that, however , the Democratic president has not been able to deliver. In this context, the governor of Massachusetts, Maura Healey declared a state of emergency Tuesday as shelters housing migrants and refugees reached full capacity, and asked the federal government for help..

In a letter to US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Healey says: “Massachusetts has stepped up to address what has unfortunately been a federal crisis. But we can no longer do this alone. We need federal partnership, federal funding, and urgent federal action to meet this moment and continue to serve some of our most vulnerable families.” The state has some 5,600 families in shelters, a sharp increase from 3,100 last year. Another 1,800 or more homeless families are currently staying in hotels and motels.

The situation in the East Coast state is compounded by delays in the issuance of work permits for people waiting for legal cases within the immigration system to be concluded. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency responsible for approving and renewing work permits, He blames the delays on the covid pandemic, which he said drained his resources and disrupted processes.

In addition, according to Healey, it must be taken into account that immigration laws are “a confusing tangle of laws” coupled with “the lack of affordable housing supply”, as well as the spectacular increase in the number of people coming to Massachusetts . Added to all this is that the state of Massachusetts is the only one with a “right to housing” law, which requires qualified families to receive immediate housing.