Massachusetts migrants: Homeland Security visiting

The Bay State is in the midst of a crisis, as communities across the Commonwealth work to find homes for incoming migrant people.

The issue here in Massachusetts is capturing the attention of leaders in Washington D.C., after Gov. Maura Healey has been pressuring the federal government to help with the growing migrant crisis.

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Since declaring a state of emergency two months ago — due to the overburdened shelter system in the Commonwealth — Healey has called on the feds to provide more funding to manage migrant arrivals and make it easier for migrants to get work authorizations while they’re here.

Mark Mansbach, the owner of Hillsdale Travel, said he recently had 70 rooms canceled for clients at three different hotels near the stadium. The travel agent who has always helped military families get accommodations for the game said he has never experienced this kind of problem.

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The Biden administration sent a Homeland Security team to Boston to assess the current migrant situation Tuesday, and they will continue their visit Wednesday, in an effort to identify ways to improve efficiencies and maximize support for communities meeting the migrants’ needs.

DHS highlighted the 2.8 million dollars sent to the City of Boston to address the crisis this past fiscal year.

Gov. Maura Healey is asking for $250 million toward sheltering the influx of migrants arriving in the state, but some lawmakers find the figure concerning.

“We will continue to offer best practices and guidance to interior cities as they work to integrate eligible noncitizens into the American workforce, and to manage our nation’s broken immigration system in a safe, orderly, and humane way until Congress acts to fix it," a DHS statement said.

A spokesperson for Governor Healey responded in part, “Our administration welcomes the opportunity to show officials from the Department of Homeland Security the extremely difficult situation we are facing and discuss badly-needed support. Congress needs to act on President Biden’s $4 billion supplemental request which would make available some funding for cities and states.”

It has not been disclosed which locations the DHS team have visited or will be visiting while they’re here.