Gov Maura Healy says the migrant crisis is 'not a problem that Massachusetts created' despite sanctuary state status
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Dozens of illegal migrants are lining the floors of Terminal E at Boston Logan Airport with no light at the end of the tunnel as the crisis overwhelms the state’s shelter system.
"We continue to see migrants at the airport on a daily basis," Massport spokesperson Jennifer Mehigan told the Boston Herald. "They come to Logan a number of ways — some fly in, but the majority do not. They also arrive at Logan at all hours."
People have been sleeping on the floors lining the lower level of international Terminal E, as shown in images captured by CBS News. Mehigan told the Boston Globe that Massport could not provide an estimate of how many people were sheltering in the terminal per day.
Mehigan told the Herald that the airport has provided staff who speak Haitian Creole and Spanish to assist the people taking shelter in the airport. Logan reportedly coordinates with the state to transport people to "welcome centers," which help direct incoming migrants to resources, services and transportation.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has said the state has reached its limit with respect to shelter space. (AP Photo/Steve LeBlanc)
"Frankly, what you’ve seen at Logan has been the situation, and this is why I said months ago that we are reaching capacity here," Gov. Maura Healey said in response to questions at a press conference Monday.
She noted that "no incidents" have occurred involving the situation at the airport despite the volume of people. The governor said Logan has been a "wonderful partner" and thanked the staff and state police — who she noted are working their regular shifts — for "managing the inflow and outflow of folks."
Healey added that her administration has processed nearly 3,000 work authorizations for people and opened overflow sites and other housing with community partners like United Way. However, she said the state still needs help from the federal government because the crisis is "not a problem that Massachusetts created."
DEM GOVERNOR COMPLAINS AS MIGRANT SURGE STRAINS HER 'RIGHT-TO-SHELTER' STATE'S RESOURCES
Illegal migrants line the floors of a terminal at Boston Logan Airport as Massachusetts shelters are overrun. (WBZ)
"The bottom line here is that we really are reaching, have reached capacity," Healey said. "I just continue to express in the strongest terms possible, that’s why we need action at the federal government. This is not a problem that Massachusetts created. However, it’s a problem that we’re having to deal with right now."
Massachusetts has a "right-to-shelter law," which entitles migrant families to taxpayer-funded emergency shelter. The Bay State is the only one in the country with a statewide right-to-shelter law, signed into law in 1983 by Gov. Michael Dukakis.
Healy, a Democrat, said in November that she had hoped the crisis would not devolve into homeless people sleeping at Boston's Logan Airport or in emergency rooms.
"The bottom line here is that we really are reaching, have reached capacity," Gov. Maura Healey said. (WBZ)
Just three months later, after she announced the state’s shelter system maxed out at 7,500 families, the situation has since devolved to that scenario.
Massachusetts is on the brink. The migrant crisis comes as Texas is in a standoff with the Biden administration over what Gov. Greg Abbott says is its constitutional duty to protect itself against the "invasion" at the southern border.
Several Republican governors on Wednesday night, including Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Glenn Youngkin of Virginia and Brian Kemp of Georgia, announced they stood in solidarity with Abbott and the Lone Star State as the Biden administration insists that it defy Texas’ attempts to use razor wire to prevent illegals from crossing the border.
"The Executive Branch of the United States has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws protecting states, including immigration laws on the books right now," Abbott said. "President Biden has refused to enforce those laws and has even violated them."
Brianna Herlihy is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
