by Mike LaChance at legalinsurrection.com
“The state said there are nearly 5,600 families or more than 20,000 people in the state shelter system.”
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey is declaring a state of emergency due to the number of illegal immigrants coming into the state. Numbers in the Bay State are still much lower than that of Texas.
FOX News reports:
Massachusetts gov declares state of emergency due to surge of migrants; calls for federal action
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in the liberal state over a surge of migrants that she says has left social services overwhelmed, and she called for more funding and help from the federal government.
Healey, a Democrat, announced that a state of emergency exists “due to rapid and unabating increases in the number of families with children and pregnant people — many of them newly arriving migrants and refugees — living within the state but without the means to secure safe shelter in our communities.”
The state said there are nearly 5,600 families or more than 20,000 people in the state shelter system. Healey said there are numerous contributing factors, including “federal policies on immigration and work authorization” as well as a lack of affordable housing and the end of COVID-era programs.
Healey also took a dig at the Biden administration, according to Politico:
read moreMass. governor slams White House for ‘federal crisis of inaction’ on migrants
On Tuesday, Healey declared a state of emergency that essentially puts the National Guard on speed dial and expedites the processes for creating or renting more migrant housing.
The emergency declaration will allow the state to “utilize and operationalize all means necessary” to secure more accommodations and assist the more than 5,000 families currently in the state’s crowded shelters, Healey said during a press conference at the State House.
It also provides an avenue for the governor to more directly pressure the Biden administration for additional assistance. In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Tuesday, Healey called on the White House to expedite work permits for asylum-seekers, slamming the administration for what she described as “a federal crisis of inaction that is many years in the making.”