Gov. Maura Healey announced on Tuesday that she has declared a state of emergency in Massachusetts, as a historic influx of migrants seek help from the Commonwealth's strained shelter system.
Healey — joined by Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, other officials, advocates and faith leaders — said that the number of people in the state's emergency shelter system is nearing 20,000, and growing everyday.
"We remain unwavering to being a state and people of compassion, safety, opportunity and respect but the increased level of demand is not slowing down," Healey said. "Due to both a longstanding shortage of affordable housing as well as delays and barriers to federal work authorizations, we find ourselves in this situation."
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Healey said the state is struggling to move people from shelters to permanent housing, and she called on the federal government for help — asking for "intervention and action to remove barriers and expedite federal work authorizations."
Massachusetts is the only state in the country with a "right-to-shelter" law, which guarantees homeless families access to emergency shelter.
Driscoll made an appeal to business owners, local leaders, faith organizations and everyday residents to also pitch in and help.
"Everyone has something they can offer, nothing is too small," Driscoll said, encouraging leaders to donate spaces, and people to volunteer their time, supplies or donations to local shelters, which are in dozens of communities across the state.
"Right now, we’re dealing with a humanization crisis, that has national and global origins, but we’re seeing face of it here," Driscoll said. "In times of strife, we don’t turn on people, we turn towards people."
Driscoll also announced the formation of the Massachusetts Migrant Families Relief Fund, which has already received two major donations from Eastern Bank and Blue Cross Blue Shield, totaling $150,000.
As the number of undocumented immigrants relocating into northeast states has spiked in recent months, Healey isn't the only government official who has looked to take emergency actions.
New York City Major Eric Adams asked a judge in May to relieve the city from its own right-to-shelter obligation.
Representative and candidate for state Senate Peter Durant called Tuesday for Healey to file legislation to repeal Massachusetts' housing mandate law.
"Our homeless shelters are maxed out. Hotels across the state have been converted to shelters. And the problem is growing on a daily basis. Worse yet, all of this assistance is being taken away from our legal residents and it is a potential safety risk for the children. It is time to repeal the Right to Settle law, so Massachusetts will stop being a magnet state. Today, I am asking Governor Healey to file emergency legislation to repeal it," Durant wrote in a release
Shelters, hospitals and social workers have been sounding the alarm over the growing number of families who need help in Massachusetts, including many migrants seeking a new life in the United States and in Massachusetts.
The number of families housed in the state shelter system, including hotels and motels that have been converted to shelters, has nearly doubled in the past year. As of Aug. 6 of this year, there were 5,527 families in state shelters, an increase from around 3,100 families a year ago.
"Really, we’re dealing with a humanitarian crisis in terms of just the number of folks needing shelter," CEO of Heading Home Danielle Ferrier said. "And so I think in many ways it feels more like disaster relief at that point of we just need more troops out here with us.”
Social and healthcare workers have been calling on Healey to declare a state of emergency in order to tap into federal funds and access additional housing.
The problem has become so dire that migrants and their families have been sleeping on hospital floors and emergency rooms, at the airport and even on the streets.
At around the same time as the governor's announcement, a group of migrant advocates and social workers was planning to hold a rally at the State House demanding action.
The State House News Service contributed to this report.
