At the same time that Democrats all around Massachusetts have made it apparent that they are unhappy with the response from Washington, Governor Maura Healey has expressed her approval of a decision taken by the White House to send a team from the Department of Homeland Security to the state in order to “assess” an inflow of migrants who are filling local shelters.
A representative for the White House stated that the team will do a “assessment of the current migrant situation and identify ways to improve efficiencies and maximise our support for communities that are addressing the needs of migrants.”
“White House officials have been in close contact with Mayor (Michelle) Wu, Gov. (Maura) Healey, and their respective staff,” a spokesperson for the federal government said in a statement released on Saturday. “White House officials will remain in coordination with the city and commonwealth to determine best practises and ways in which the federal government can support Boston and Massachusetts over the coming weeks and months,” the spokesperson added. “This will continue until Congress takes action to fix our nation’s broken immigration system.”
According to a statement released by Healey’s office, the administration “welcomes the opportunity to show officials from the Department of Homeland Security the extremely challenging situation we are facing here in Massachusetts and discuss much-needed federal support.”
Since the middle of September, the administration of Healey has been coordinating with officials from the Biden administration to set up a visit to the area. In August, Healey issued a state of emergency as a reaction to an overwhelmed shelter system that houses migrant families as well as families that are homeless in the local area.
There was a lack of clarity regarding the time frame for the team from the Department of Homeland Security’s arrival in Massachusetts.
A visit by officials from the federal government comes at a time when Democrats in Massachusetts have been increasing the pressure on the Biden administration to either offer more federal funds or alter the laws around work permits so that migrants can more swiftly leave emergency shelters.
This includes a request made by Representative Jake Auchincloss of the United States that the administration of Vice President Joe Biden send a “assessment team” to the city of Boston to observe for themselves how the state is coping with the flood of migrants.
In reaction to the decision made by the White House, the congressman issued a statement in which he referred to the development as “an important step towards results and relief for Massachusetts.”
Additionally, Auchincloss participated in a virtual briefing on immigration reform, migrant arrivals, and work authorizations on Thursday morning alongside Healey, Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll, House Speaker Ronald Mariano, Senate President Karen Spilka, and members of the state’s congressional delegation.
This week, a “assessment team” from the Department of Homeland Security came to Chicago to look at the city’s security measures.
Healey has made many requests to President Joe Biden and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, to extend a more direct helping hand to the state. This week, it was clear that top politicians on Beacon Hill are becoming increasingly frustrated. This displeasure has been on full display.
When asked if the Biden administration should designate a point person to coordinate with states on response efforts, Mariano told reporters at the State House on Wednesday, “The guy is running for president, he better start paying attention to this.” He was responding to a question about whether or not the Biden administration should create a point person.
Wednesday, Spilka stated in an interview with The Boston Herald that officials from the Biden campaign “need to help us” and that “I don’t want to let them off the hook so easily either.”
“The reality is that we are doing all that we can to help the desperate families who are arriving here in ever increasing numbers, but we absolutely need help from our federal partners to marshal the resources required to house these parents and children and help them get back on their feet,” Spilka said in a statement that was given to the Herald on Thursday.
According to the State Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, as of the morning of Thursday, there were more than 6,800 families that were homeless or migrants staying in the state’s emergency shelter system.
In the beginning of this year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency gave its approval for the expenditure of $1.9 million to increase temporary shelter and transportation services for newly arriving migrants in the state of Massachusetts. Early on in the summer, the City of Boston submitted an application for the funding, naming the state as a sub-applicant.
