Liberal Mass. governor declares state of emergency over migrant influx

Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency Tuesday over the flood of migrants pouring into her deep blue state and straining emergency resources.

Healey urged the federal government to step up support for the crisis, which she claims has caused a “severe lack of shelter availability.”

“I am declaring a state of emergency in Massachusetts and urging my partners in the federal government to take the action we need to address this crisis by streamlining the work authorization process and passing comprehensive immigration reform,” she said in a statement.

According to commonwealth officials, there are currently around 5,600 families — more than 20,000 individuals — in state shelters.

“Many of these families are migrants to Massachusetts, drawn here because we are and proudly have been a beacon to those in need,” Healey wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas before going on to call for the Biden administration to “remove the burdensome barriers keeping people from getting work authorizations, address our outdated and punitive immigration laws, and provide much needed financial assistance to help states like Massachusetts address this national issue.

“These new arrivals desperately want to work,” she added, “and we have historic demand for workers across all industries.”

The Massachusetts declaration follows similar pronouncements by New York state and the city of Chicago in recent months.

Currently, migrants awaiting asylum rulings can get US work permits, though they must wait five months to apply, according to the Immigration Reform Law Institute. Work permits can be issued after 30 additional days, but there often are delays.

Massachusetts is the only state in the union with a “right-to-shelter” law on the books, guaranteeing homeless families a place to stay regardless of whether they are US citizens or not.

While NYC Mayor Eric Adams sought in May to suspend the city’s right-to-shelter obligation, Healey told reporters in Boston Tuesday that “I was never going to end, nor do I have the authority to end, right-to-shelter in the state.”

Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll urged Bay State residents to consider opening their homes to migrants, saying: “This is not a crisis that our family shelter system was designed to handle. For months now, state government and our providers have been doing the work of stretching the system as far as it can safely go. But we really need to bring more people into this work to make it a true team effort.

“If you have an extra room or suite in your home, please consider hosting a family. Safe housing and shelter is our most pressing need.”

Last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis famously flew migrants from Texas into Martha’s Vineyard, a wealthy island enclave.

Massachusetts officials have called for a federal investigation over the migrant flight, which many Democrats denounced as a “stunt.”

During fiscal year 2022, US Customs and Border Protection tabulated a record-smashing 2.4 million migrant encounters at the US-Mexico border

Already that figure is up to 1.8 million for fiscal year 2023, which ends Sept 30.