Border states are continuing to deal with President Joe Biden’s obscenely lax immigration policies, but those issues are now spreading to Democrat-run states much farther north.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has repeatedly complained about the influx of thousands of migrants inundating the city’s services, but now a blue state governor has the same problem and is declaring an emergency.
“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,” Fox News reported.
Healey, a Democrat, said in her announcement the 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.”
According to a state report, there are almost 5,600 families, comprising over 20,000 individuals, currently in the state shelter system. Healey highlighted various factors contributing to this situation, such as “federal policies on immigration and work authorization,” a shortage of affordable housing, and the conclusion of COVID-era programs, Fox News noted further.
Massachusetts, although geographically distant from the heavily impacted southern border, has become the latest progressive area to request federal assistance in response to a migrant surge. Joining the ranks of New York City, Chicago, and the state of New York, which have all issued emergency declarations this year, Massachusetts seeks aid in addressing the influx of migrants, the outlet reported.
Although the figures represent only a minor fraction of the hundreds of thousands of migrants reaching the border each month, these regions have declared themselves inundated and unable to accommodate the incoming migrants.
Healey stated that during July, approximately 100 families per day were seeking emergency shelter, whereas the number of families exiting shelters has decreased by two-thirds since 2019. Moreover, the expenses related to programs have reached $45 million monthly.
“Many of these families are migrants to Massachusetts, drawn here because we are and proudly have been a beacon to those in need,” she noted in a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
She also went on to blame “a confusing tangle of immigration laws, an inability for migrants to obtain work authorization from the federal government, an increase in the number of people coming to Massachusetts, and the lack of an affordable housing supply in our state.”
Healey urged Mayorkas to pressure Congress and employ executive measures to eliminate obstacles to work permits for migrants, to “address our outdated and punitive immigration laws,” and to extend further financial support to the state.
In the meantime, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) expressed her strong displeasure last week, stating that she was “livid” over the fact that New York City was receiving federal funding to manage migrants rather than states like hers situated along the border.
“What we’re experiencing here in Arizona is matched only by what folks are experiencing in southern Texas,” Sinema said. “Those are the two communities that are experiencing this crisis. The rest of the country is experiencing some elements of it, but we are experiencing the brunt.”
