BOSTON (WHDH) - On Monday night, Terminal E at Boston’s Logan International Airport still served as an overnight shelter for a few migrant families. Come Tuesday night, these families will need to move out.
Starting July 9, migrants will no longer be allowed to sleep at Logan, according to the Healey-Driscoll Administration. Gov. Maura Healey addressed the decision on June 28.
“We’ve never thought that Logan was an appropriate place for people to be staying overnight,” Healey said.
Healey declared a state of emergency last summer for the amount of migrant families crossing the border and coming to Massachusetts. She implemented a cap of 7,500 families in the fall.
“I’ve said from the outset that we can’t handle this capacity in Massachusetts, we’ve been bearing a disproportionate burden,” she said.
With emergency shelters across the state reaching capacity, migrants were allowed to sleep at the airport.
Jeff Thielman, president and CEO of the International Institute of New England, is an advocate for migrants. His team has spent months visiting with the families at Logan to help set them up with shelters and benefits.
“The first thing that they say is, ‘Yo quiero trabajar’ — ‘I want to work.’ And that is their top priority,” Thielman said.
He said the process of finding permanent housing takes time.
“Are they anxious about housing? You bet. They’re very anxious about where they’re going to live. We’ve been working with a lot of people in the shelter system. They want to get out of the shelter system,” Thielman said.
Healey said the state’s shelters have run out of space. To address this, she recently implemented a nine-month time limit for families in the shelter system. In June, she also sent a five-member delegation to the southern border of the United States to tell migrants Massachusetts could no longer take them in.
“The communication to the border has been quite clear that Massachusetts is not the place to come if you’re looking for housing,” Healey said.
As the state transformed a former prison in Norfolk into a safety-net shelter that can fit 140 families, the governor believes it is a good time to end overnight stays at the airport.
Thielman agrees, saying it’s easier for organizations like his to work with the families if they’re all in one location.
“I am aligned with the governor on her position that it’s dangerous and unhealthy to have families at Logan Airport for long periods of time, overnight rather, it’s not a safe environment for them,” Thielman said.
Healey’s office did not respond to a request for comment Monday night.
On June 28, when Healey announced the decision to prohibit sleeping at Logan, a few dozen families were seen still sleeping at the airport.
As of Monday night, far fewer people were seen.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)