Massachusetts

Fort Point residents divided over new migrant shelter

A community meeting with Mayor Michelle Wu's liaison is taking place at 11:30 a.m. Friday at Caffè Nero on Congress Street

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Residents in the Fort Point neighborhood of Boston are still divided over the opening of a new emergency shelter in their neighborhood.

Gov. Maura Healey said it's necessary with the state's shelter system at capacity but some people living in the area continue to push back.

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Residents will have an opportunity Friday to ask questions and address their concerns directly to a city liaison about the proposed migrant shelter on Farnsworth Street. This meeting follows Tuesday’s fiery community discussion between residents, elected officials and representatives from United Way.

"You're telling me that from Boston to Stockbridge, there's not a better location in this state? Are you kidding me?" asked a resident at Tuesday's meeting.   

Some Fort Point residents called on Healey to look for a more appropriate location to house the overflow of migrants.

The site on Farnsworth Street belongs to the Unitarian Universalist Association, and it's working with United Way and the state to open a night shelter, after the state's shelter system reached capacity in November with 7,500 families.

In the backdrop to this, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump visited to the southern border, with Biden blaming Trump for killing a bipartisan deal to stem the flow of migrants, while Trump accused Biden of open border policies.

Healey weighing in earlier this week, linking the migrant crisis in Massachusetts to the failures in Washington. 

"It's really shameful that a deal was on the table, a deal that would've addressed and corrected so much of this and fixed a broken immigration system," said Healey.

A community meeting with Mayor Michelle Wu's liaison is taking place at 11:30 a.m. Friday at Caffè Nero on Congress Street.

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