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About 100 migrants were reportedly staying at Logan again last week
Dozens of migrants, including families with young children, were reportedly forced to stay in a corner of Logan Airport.
About 100 migrants were reportedly staying in a corner of Logan Airport recently as Massachusetts continues to struggle with an emergency shelter system that is bursting at the seams.
Dozens of people, including families with young children, were seen sleeping on the floor of Terminal E last week, according to a report from WBZ. Some locals have been helping connect the migrants with basic supplies, including wet wipes they are using to keep clean due to a lack of shower access.
Those staying at the airport have been leaving on buses in the morning and coming back to sleep there at night, WBZ reported. When asked about the situation. Gov. Maura Healey thanked Logan staff and state police working there.
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“The airport has been a wonderful partner and I really want to thank the folks at the airport who are doing a wonderful job, including members of the state police who are working their regular shifts but who are managing the inflow and outflow of folks from the airport,” she told reporters at a press conference.
The emergency shelter system of Massachusetts has been overburdened for months amid an influx of migrants and a housing crisis. It reached capacity last November, and a waitlist system was put in place. Various overflow sites are helping those on the waitlist, but more families are coming in every day.
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In mid-November, migrants were also forced to stay at Logan. Massport interim CEO Ed Freni said at the time that the airport was “not an appropriate place” for them to stay.
Healey joined eight other governors this week to call for help from President Biden and congressional leaders.
“With ongoing conflicts around the world, global migration is at a historic high. States and cities cannot indefinitely respond to the subsequent strain on state and local resources without Congressional action. Communities along the southern border — as well as interior states and cities across the country — lack the vast coordinated infrastructure needed to respond to the humanitarian and public safety concerns of those seeking lawful entry into the United States,” they wrote in a letter.
The $106 billion supplemental funding request put forth by Biden last year would provide crucial help, wrote Healey and the governors of New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, and New Mexico.
The Healey administration has estimated that the situation will cost more than $900 million annually in fiscal years 2024 and 2025.
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