Latest news with #RighttoShelter
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Massachusetts to close all hotel shelters this summer
BOSTON (WPRI) — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said she plans to close all of the state's hotel shelters six months ahead of schedule. The 32 remaining hotels being used as shelters, including the Clarion Hotel in Taunton, will close this summer. They were originally set to shut down by the end of the year. Healey said the number of families in shelters is expected to drop below 4,000 by then. 'When we took office, homeless families were being placed in hotel shelters across the state,' Healey said. 'A hotel is no place to raise a family, and they are the least cost-effective. That's why we implemented reforms to lower caseloads and the cost of the shelter system. We also promised to close all hotel shelters by the end of the year.' Healey said 85-90% of families that were looking for shelter 'are now longtime Massachusetts families.' The Bay State capped its emergency shelter system at 7,500 families in 2023 as an influx of migrants arrived in the state. Healey has also proposed changes to the state's Right to Shelter law that would require families to provide proof of Massachusetts residency and lawful immigration status. The governor said the drop in families seeking shelter can be attributed to a six-month length-of-stay requirement, workforce training and work to help families find stable housing. 'I'm pleased that we are ahead of schedule, with more families getting jobs and moving to stable housing,' Healey said. Download the and apps to get breaking news and weather alerts. Watch or with the new . Follow us on social media: Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Massachusetts to close all emergency state shelters in hotels this summer, governor says
After years of grappling with a migrant crisis, Massachusetts officials plan to close all emergency state shelters in hotels and motels in the state this summer, Gov. Maura Healey said Monday. Healey, who previously directed all hotel shelters to be closed by the end of 2025, said the state is six months ahead of schedule. The remaining state-run shelters in hotels across the Bay State will close this summer. The Norfolk Rapid Shelter located at the former Bay State Correctional Center and the Revere CSR site at the Revere Quality Inn will close this summer, due to declining caseload, officials said. Additionally, the Lowell Inn and Conference Center will transition from a Bridge Track shelter site to a Rapid Track shelter and CSR site in July, Healey said. A new report found that as of April 30, 32 hotel shelters remain in Massachusetts, down from a peak of 100 in the summer of 2023, a 68 percent decrease, Healey said. The total number of families in shelter recently dropped below 5,000 for the first time since July 2023 and is expected to drop below 4,000 families this summer, Healey said. 'When we took office, homeless families were being placed in hotel shelters across the state,' Healey said in a statement Monday. 'A hotel is no place to raise a family, and they are the least cost effective,' Healey said. 'That's why we implemented reforms to lower caseloads and the cost of the shelter system. We also promised to close all hotel shelters by the end of the year. I'm pleased that we are ahead of schedule, with more families getting jobs and moving to stable housing.' Healey's announcement on Monday comes nearly two years after she declared a state of emergency and imposed a cap on the system at 7,500 families in 2023. Healey said the decreases are a result of a number of reforms she made to reduce caseloads and the cost of the state's Emergency Assistance family shelter system. These include a six-month length of stay requirement, workforce training and job placement for residents, and increased case management to help families find stable housing. In January, Healey announced that families staying in Massachusetts emergency shelters must be in the U.S. legally and must also undergo a criminal background check before staying at shelters. Those were among the 'significant changes' that Healey proposed to the state's Right to Shelter law in January amid a migrant crisis in Massachusetts. The proposed changes were announced in January after a Dominican national living at a state-run emergency family shelter in Revere was arrested in December for allegedly having an assault rifle and five kilograms of suspected fentanyl at the shelter. Healey ordered the inspection of all state-run emergency family shelters on Jan. 6 following his arrest. In May 2024, a migrant was indicted for raping a 15-year-old girl at a Rockland hotel being used an emergency shelter in March. For the past three years, thousands of families have been arriving in Massachusetts in droves from other states and other countries seeking shelter, officials said. The state turned to hotels and motels to shelter the large numbers of migrants and homeless families. In 2014, 1,500 families were being sheltered in hotels across the state, officials said. Then, in 2022, the number of families seeking shelter 'began to dramatically increase due to the housing crisis, failed federal immigration policy, and a lack of safeguards to control the expansion of the shelter system,' Healey said in her statement. 'The Healey-Driscoll Administration inherited two dual challenges when it arrived in office in 2023: an unprecedented surge of families seeking emergency shelter and a flawed shelter system that was ill-equipped to handle such a surge,' Healey said in her statement. To meet this 'unprecedented challenge,' Healey said she initiated a number of reforms to lower the caseload, reduce taxpayer costs and improve safety. Last June, state officials announced that notices to families reaching length-of-stay limits in the state's emergency shelter system will begin going out in July, amid a migrant crisis in Massachusetts. In March 2024, state officials announced new requirements for migrants. The state's Emergency Assistance family shelter system operated at capacity for months amid a large influx of migrants to the Bay State. Dozens of migrants have been often seen sleeping overnight inside Logan International Airport. 'We want to express our deep appreciation for the extraordinary work of the frontline teams, who are vital partners in supporting families throughout this crisis,' Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus said in a statement. 'Shelter providers and their staff played a critical role in rapidly scaling up services to meet an unprecedented surge in need,' Augustus said. 'Their dedication and agility ensured that thousands of families across the state had access to safe shelter and support at a time when it was most needed. We are also grateful to the communities and partners who have come together to support families throughout this emergency.' The Emergency Assistance program is for families with children or pregnant women who are experiencing homelessness, state officials said. Approximately half of families in the state's Emergency Assistance system are new arrivals to Massachusetts. Last fall, state officials said that the system could no longer safely or responsibly expand and the state established a waiting list. Families who qualify for Emergency Assistance and are on the waiting list are eligible to stay at the state's 'safety-net sites.' 'Unexpected influx': Norfolk officials share concerns about turning former state prison into shelter In November, Healey announced that her administration would phase out the use of hotels and motels as shelters by the end of 2025. The number of families in shelter dropped below 5,000 for the first time since July 2023, officials said. Since the start of 2025, double the number of families have exited shelter (approximately 2,500) than have entered shelter (approximately 1,100). Officials said approximately 85 to 90 percent of families seeking shelter are now longtime Massachusetts families. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. 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Fox News
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Blue state leader sounds alarm about ‘perfect storm' of Dem immigration policies decimating public safety
Massachusetts state Sen. Ryan Fattman, a Republican, is sounding the alarm about the impact of a "perfect storm" of Democratic policies he says are decimating public safety while simultaneously driving up the cost of living. One policy – instituted by the 2017 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling Lunn vs. Commonwealth – bars local and state law enforcement agencies from assisting with immigration enforcement. Under the ruling, law enforcement are also not allowed to honor ICE "detainer" requests, often forcing police departments and sheriffs' offices to release dangerous criminal illegals onto the streets without notifying ICE. This has led to ICE having to re-arrest several criminal illegals charged with such crimes as child rape and fentanyl trafficking after they were released by Massachusetts law enforcement agencies for bail as low as $500 or no bail at all. Fattman told Fox News Digital that these cases are not isolated but rather "are happening across the commonwealth." He also pointed to a Massachusetts "Right to Shelter" law, which has led to the creation of a vast network of migrant shelters that has cost the state upwards of $3 billion in taxpayer dollars since 2021. Whistleblowers have also called attention to "rampant abuse" of the shelter system by migrants, including instances of drug trafficking and a father repeatedly raping and even impregnating his teenage daughter. A public records request by the Boston Globe resulted in an over 3,000-page document detailing cases of rape, domestic violence, assault and other crimes being perpetuated by illegals living in the state-funded shelter system. "You have a perfect storm that's happening in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," said Fattman. "We have 3,000 pages of public safety incidents, 3 billion plus dollars spent on the taxpayers' dime, and cities and towns across the commonwealth that are literally going broke." He placed the onus for the state of the crisis on Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, as well as the Democratic majority legislature. "Ninety-nine percent of political asylum cases in our immigration courts get rejected," he said. "So, the premise that these individuals will come to the commonwealth, and many of whom are good people, and that they might be able to work here, make lives here, it's not true. So, we have spent $3 billion on 99% of people who are never going to be legal residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We have lit the money on fire, and that is wrong." "This is insanity, and it must change," he continued. "People are tired of this. They want safety for their children and their families. They want to be able to walk down the street and know that there's nothing bad that's going to happen to them, that they can work hard and get ahead. And that is not happening in the commonwealth." In efforts to curb the insanity, Fattman introduced a bill called the "Shield Act" that would essentially overturn the Lunn decision by authorizing local and state law enforcement agencies to work with ICE to ensure criminal illegal immigrants are kept off the streets. Though Massachusetts is a solid blue state, Fattman is optimistic that citizens are going to demand change from their leaders one way or another. "This is, I think, a situation that has become untenable politically for many people," he said, adding that the Lunn decision specifically says that the "legislature needs to create a law in order for this law to exist, that no law exists so, therefore, the ICE detainers don't have to be honored and the remedy is the legislature acting." "Massachusetts is viewed as a blue state, but there are large, large swaths of purple and red parts of the state and those places are just fed up," he went on. "They're fed up as individuals watching the headlines, seeing that their neighbors being assaulted, pregnant women are being injured at the hands of people who are not lawfully present in our state or country." "To add insult to injury, we have said, come here, we'll pay for you, for your food, for your education, for your healthcare, and for your shelter, and it's cost billions of dollars," he added. "We're getting to a critical mass where the pressure points are about at explosion."
Boston Globe
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Mass. Republicans file legislation to allow local, state police to comply with ICE detainer requests
Under an ordinance known as the by federal officials, unless they're also facing a warrant for a serious crime. A Advertisement But Republicans on Beacon Hill hope to change that, filing at least two bills that would allow local and state officials to detain someone for an extended period of time if they are the subject of an ICE detainer request. The legislation is part of a broader set of immigration-related proposals the party has unveiled this month, including a push to change the state's Right to Shelter law, limits on shelter stays, and an audit of the shelter system. Advertisement 'These bills are not intended to facilitate any kind of widespread deportation or mass deportation,' Tarr said. 'These are intended to relate to those folks who have in some ways transgressed the law or are suspected of behavior that is violent and dangerous.' Four other lawmakers have also signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, which Jones said is almost 'This isn't some broad net; this is sort of focused on the headline-grabbing, most offensive cases that even the most, I would think, even the most progressive, left-leaning, open border-type person would' be able to support, he said. The legislation would not require local and state law enforcement officials to comply with ICE detainer requests, but would give them the option, he said. The measure would not conflict with the SJC ruling, he added. The Related : Another bill, filed by state Representative Michael Soter, a Republican from Bellingham, reaches further. It would allow local and state authorities to keep anyone who is the subject of an ICE detainer request in custody for an additional 36 hours. At least 11 lawmakers have signed on as co-sponsors, as well as the sheriffs of Worcester and Plymouth counties. Advertisement Soter called the measure 'an extra tool in the tool shed,' and a way to close what he described as a 'loophole' from the 2017 court decision. 'It's something very common sense that I think we all can agree on,' Soter said. 'It would be safer for ICE to detain these folks in a secure setting, versus out in the community, where [raids] have its risks for everybody, people who live in the community, plus our law enforcement.' He also argued it would allow ICE to be held accountable if federal authorities fail to pick up a subject of a detainer request before the time extension runs out. But Sarang Sekhavat, chief of staff at the 'This [amounts to] arrest without probable cause,' Sekhavat said. If a person has a criminal history, 'Let the police deal with it, let the criminal courts deal with it, let people serve their time like everybody else does. But to then further criminalize them by arresting folks for civil charges, it's not what this country was founded on.' Boston and Massachusetts leaders, including Wu and Governor Maura Healey, have expressed Wu often points to Advertisement Sekhavat said the bills filed by Massachusetts Republicans come as immigrants across the country are already feeling a greater sense of fear due to the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration enforcement. 'We're definitely seeing a huge uptick in Xenophobia, we're seeing a huge uptick, frankly, in just straight up racism,' he said. 'It's surprising and disappointing in a country that was built as a nation of immigrants.' With Democrats holding super majorities in both chambers of the Legislature, the measures would seem to have a slim chance of passage. Still, Jones was cautiously optimistic about the prospect of rallying bipartisan support for his bill. He pointed to recent action by Healey to restrict eligibility for the state shelter system, limit lengths of stays, and order full criminal background checks on all people currently in the system. Related : The state has 'One need look no further than the corner office to see a Democrat that's kind of moved their position on the overall issue relative to the migrant crisis,' Jones said. 'I'm always hopeful that maybe there's a shifting paradigm, and I think this is ... I would argue, a very reasonable, very conservative approach, modest approach to trying to address some of the worst actors out there.' A spokesperson for state Senate President Karen Spilka's office did not explicitly express whether she would support the legislation, saying the Senate reviews all newly filed bills through the committee process. Advertisement 'The vast majority of immigrants are hardworking, taxpaying, law abiding contributors to their communities, and the Senate President denounces any attempt to make those residents feel afraid,' said Spilka's spokesperson Gray Milkowski in a statement. Governor Maura Healey's office, state House Speaker Ron Mariano, Wu's office, and representatives from the Boston Police Department and ICE Boston did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Niki Griswold can be reached at
