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Federal team sent to ‘assess’ migrant situation to visit Boston Tuesday, Wednesday

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Federal team sent to ‘assess’ migrant situation to visit Boston Tuesday, Wednesday


A Department of Homeland Security team tasked with “assessing” the migrant situation in Massachusetts plans to visit Boston Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the Healey administration.

The trip comes as migrant arrivals have surged in Massachusetts, pushing an emergency shelter system already overburdened with the number of local homeless families into crisis mode. Skyrocketing housing costs and long processing periods for work authorizations have slowed both local families and migrants’ ability to exit temporary housing.

The Biden administration said last week it was sending a Homeland Security team to “assess  the current migrant situation and identify ways to improve efficiencies and maximize our support for communities that are addressing the needs of migrants.”

“We look forward to having the DHS team visit Boston this week to better understand the challenges the city and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are facing, and to make response recommendations as to how we continue to work together,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a Monday letter to Gov. Maura Healey.

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A spokesperson for Healey said the administration “welcomes” the opportunity to show the assessment team “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. We will continue to advocate for more funding in addition to that and changes to the work authorization process,” spokesperson Karissa Hand said in a statement.

In a statement to the Herald, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the agency is coordinating with Boston and state officials “to identify ways we can continue to maximize our support for communities that are addressing the needs of migrants while enforcing tough consequences against those without a legal basis to remain in the country.”

“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,” the spokesperson said while pointing to $2.8 million the Biden administration has shuttled to Boston.

For the past two months since declaring a state of emergency in response to the crowded emergency shelter system, Healey has called on the federal government to provide more funding to deal with migrant arrivals and make it easier for them to obtain work authorizations.

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After meeting in person with Mayorkas at the State House over the summer, Healey penned a letter last month asking for two regulatory changes that would allow migrants to work once they’re granted immigration status by the federal government and use their application as a provisional employment authorization document.

In the Monday letter, Mayorkas said the feds have taken “several concrete steps” to quickly hand out work authorizations.

He said employment authorization applications were fast tracked for people who have been paroled into the United States following a CBP One appointment, as well as those paroled from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.

“(U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is working to decrease media processing time for (employment authorization document) applications for these individuals to 30 days,” Mayorkas wrote.

Officials have also sent over 1 million notifications to people paroled into the U.S. to raise awareness about their eligibility to apply for a work authorization. And Mayorkas also pointed to a recent move by the Biden administration to extend temporary protected status for Venezuelans.

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“This administration has overseen the largest expansion of lawful pathways to the United States in decades,” Mayorkas wrote.



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Boston, MA

What are those giant pink inflatable sculptures in downtown Boston?

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What are those giant pink inflatable sculptures in downtown Boston?


Giant pink people appear in Boston for art installation

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Giant pink people appear in Boston for art installation

01:09

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BOSTON – It’s a peculiar sight in downtown Boston: Giant pink people peering into restaurant windows and hanging out in alleyways.

These sculptures that are making their debut in the United States are called “Monsieur Rose” or “Mr. Pink” in English. It’s a new art installation designed to catch your attention and lift your spirits.

“These characters transform the streets into playful places and our daily travels into delightful, colorful journeys,” a website for the exhibit says.  

“Cute-ism” art

Their collective name in French roughly translates to “cute-ism” from artist Philippe Katerine. The inflatable sculptures are part of this year’s Winteractive art walk. 

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A Mr. Pink sculpture in Boston.

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CBS Boston


Winteractive is the same event that brought floating clown heads to the city last year. The Downtown Boston Alliance says the reaction encouraged them to up the ante this year.

Changing people’s days

Michael Nichols with the Downtown Boston Alliance says the organization is exploring “different ways of using our downtown to have fun.”

“It is the darkest, drabbest time of year in Boston. It’s gray … just cold and bitter,” he said. “And pops of pink color, bubblegum pink dotting the downtown in now six different locations is changing people’s day.”

Mr. Pink is only the beginning of the experience – new installations will be added to the collection every day for the next week. On Thursday morning there was another eye-catching sight: A display that appeared to show a satellite or small spacecraft that had crashed onto the hood of a car.

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A new art installation in downtown Boston showing a spacecraft or satellite on the hood of a car.

CBS Boston




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ICE blasts Boston: Feds say BPD refused 198 immigration detainer requests for ‘egregious crime’ in 2024, not 15

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ICE blasts Boston: Feds say BPD refused 198 immigration detainer requests for ‘egregious crime’ in 2024, not 15


Federal authorities said the Boston Police Department refused to act on 198 immigration detainer requests last year, far exceeding the 15 reported by BPD’s commissioner, while blasting the city for jeopardizing “public safety and national security.” 



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Egg prices have doubled amid shortage, Boston diner owner says

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Egg prices have doubled amid shortage, Boston diner owner says


Bird flu driving up egg prices for Boston restaurant

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Bird flu driving up egg prices for Boston restaurant

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BOSTON – South Street Diner is an institution in the city. They see Bostonians coming at all hours of the night. The line out the door comes for the breakfast, particularly the eggs. Only these days, a shortage in the country is making eggs harder to stomach for the only restaurant in the city licensed to serve 24 hours.

“Just about six weeks ago, middle of November, we started getting phone calls from US Foods,” said Solomon Sidell, owner of South Street Diner. “Our pricing has not changed at all. We have ingested the pricing to be able to make sure we can serve the customer at this time.”

Impact of bird flu

The price of an egg has doubled for Sidell and his team now that the shortage has impacted their supplier. Chickens became impacted by an avian flu. Roughly 40% of the country’s hens are raised in cage-free facilities, and 60% of the bird flu cases were found in such type farms. In addition to the price hike, Sidell also has to order two weeks ahead just to make sure they keep coming.

“We have about just under a pallet of eggs about 150 dozen left,” said Sidell. “We buy those Friday morning, Saturday morning, and then by Monday morning they are gone, so we have to start the process again.”

On a given weekend, they can go through 400 dozen eggs. Their busiest night of the year is New Year’s Eve through New Year’s Day.

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“To have the highest prices for eggs for the year on your busiest day of the year is a punch in the gut,” said Sidell. “I would prefer not to raise pricing in inflation time.”

He expects the shortage to end in mid-February. Right now, they have no plans to adjust their pricing, but if the shortage continues past February, he says they will have to re-evaluate. 



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