Dozens of migrant families spent the night outside the Wollaston MBTA station in Quincy, Massachusetts, on Monday.

Charitable groups said it’s a symptom of the lack of shelter space in the state and the result of new rules that went into effect earlier this month.

The Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network (BIJAN) said 47 people – about half of them children – were sleeping outside on the concrete floor, benches and on a lawn nearby.

It happened after the BIJAN ran out of money and were no longer able to sponsor their hotel rooms as they had for the past few nights.

“There’s no space for us. You don’t do that. For me you don’t do that, it’s a lack of respect,” said Eisner Dervil, an immigrant from Haiti.

“Police got here early this morning and woke us up, telling us we couldn’t stay here,” said Wisler Sol, another Haitian immigrant.

Their presence was noticed by those passing by and living in the area.

“Somebody needs to do something,” said one neighbor who asked not to be identified. “You have to care because this is a problem; children are involved.”

Fahema Rahman, an immigrant herself, learned about the families and decided to help out by donating food. She said she expects more from local leaders.

“Anyone’s babies should not be sleeping on the ground in America,” she said. “There are the smartest people in the country here we should be able to solve any problem.”

Last month the governor put an end to families sleeping at Logan Airport.

The area that housed nearly 50 migrant families at one point at Boston Logan International Airport is now empty. The last few families staying there were told by Gov. Maura Healey they had to evacuate by Tuesday.

At the beginning of the month, she introduced tighter measures to ease the burden on the shelter system – which her office said has helped, helping 3,800 families receive work permits leading to an average of 330 families being able to leave the shelters. But it has also pushed out more than 200 families who aren’t considered priority.

“Unfortunately, it’s turned out that it’s really become really relying on volunteer support,” said BIJAN’s Annie Gonzalez.

Gonzalez said BIJAN used grant money and donations to place dozens of families who were pushed out of the state shelters into hotels for a few nights until their funds ran dry on Monday.

“There is a rainy day fund for emergencies that the state of Massachusetts has and I don’t know what else they think constitutes an emergency, but to me, this seems like one,” she said.

The governor’s office issued this statement, saying: “It’s terrible that families slept outside last night. We have asked the nonprofit assisting them to bring them to our family welcome centers today so that they can be referred to a temporary respite center.”

But with no immediate lasting relief in sight, worry and the cooler weather are creeping in.

After months of unsuccessful negotiations over wages and workloads, hotel workers in Boston are preparing for a potential strike at 35 hotels, the union representing the city’s hotel workers said Tuesday.

Plans for a potential strike comes less than a week before contracts expire, UNITE HERE Local 26, the union representing hotel workers in Boston, said in a statement.

Hotels that could see a potential strike include the Hilton Boston Park Plaza, the Hilton Boston Logan Airport, and the Fairmont Copley Plaza. Hotel workers are registering for strike benefits, signing up for picket duty, and assembling “On Strike” signs, the union said.

These actions come after an overwhelming 99% vote to authorize a historic citywide strike, which could happen anytime after contracts expire on August 31st.

Note: Workers and union officials are available for interviews at 26 West Street in Boston, 7am to 7pm, through Friday August 30th. Please call to coordinate.

“I’m ready to strike because we’re all struggling to pay our monthly bills,” Susana Coelho, a PBX Operator at the Hilton Boston Logan Airport Hotel for 21 years, said in a statement. “Groceries, even basic items like eggs and pasta, are three times more expensive than before. Many of my co-workers are facing the same problems, and they’re getting ready to strike, too.”

“We’ve been in negotiations for months, but the hotels don’t want to help us out in these hard times,” Coelho said. “I’m ready to show the hotel that I’m serious about winning a livable wage and securing a better future for myself and my daughter.”

“Hotel workers are preparing in earnest for a historic Citywide strike in Boston and across the U.S.,” Carlos Aramayo, president of UNITE HERE Local 26, said in a statement. “It’s unacceptable that hotel workers often struggle to afford basic necessities despite working for a big brand like Hilton or Marriott. Our work of providing high quality guest services and amenities should be protected, and guests should know they can expect the same experience that they had before Covid-19. After months of unsuccessful negotiations, hotel workers are ready to fight for what we deserve, and we’re going to win.”

Hotel workers across the U.S. are calling for higher wages, fair staffing and workloads, and the reversal of COVID-era cuts, according to the union. Many hotel workers are struggling to make ends meet with insufficient pay, often juggling multiple jobs to support their families.

Union officials said that too many hotels took advantage of the pandemic by cutting staffing and suspending guest services that were never restored, causing workers to lose jobs and income – and creating painful working conditions for those who carry the increased workload.

Last year, UNITE HERE members won record contracts after rolling strikes at Los Angeles hotels and a 47-day strike at Detroit casinos, union officials said.

UNITE HERE Local 26 has a history of successful labor strikes, including a 22-day strike at Harvard in 2016, a 46-day strike at Marriott hotels in 2018, and a 79-day strike at the Battery Wharf hotel in 2019, union officials said.

In June 2023, casino workers at Encore Boston Harbor in Everett voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike; it was averted when a tentative agreement was reached less than two days before the strike deadline.

UNITE HERE Local 26 represents workers in the hospitality industries of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Its members work in Boston and Providence’s best hotels, restaurants, and university dining halls in addition to the Boston Convention Centers, Fenway Park, and Logan International Airport.

“We clean hotel rooms, greet guests, and prepare and serve food for hundreds of thousands of travelers to Boston and the northeast,” union officials said in its statement.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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The family of a Boston police officer filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday against Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman whose murder trial in the officer’s death ended with a hung jury in July.

The civil suit, filed in Plymouth County Superior Court by relatives of John O’Keefe, also accuses two bars of wrongful death, alleging they served Read alcohol when she was already intoxicated on the night of Jan. 28, 2022.  

The suit accuses Read, 44, of plowing into O’Keefe, 46, with her Lexus SUV after having had a series of drinks at C.F. McCarthy’s and Waterfall Bar & Grille.

Read claimed innocence at her criminal trial. Her defense team alleged that law enforcement officers framed her. Read could not be reached for comment Monday. The lawyer in her criminal case did not respond to a request for comment. 

A person who answered the phone at C.F. McCarthy’s on Monday would not comment on the lawsuit. No one could be reached at Waterfall Bar & Grille.

The suit alleges that Read left her boyfriend for dead outside the home of a former Boston police officer in Canton, south of Boston.

The suit, which does not specify damages, also accuses Read and the two bars of negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Prosecutors had alleged that Read mowed O’Keefe down amid a deteriorating relationship. She was charged with second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence and leaving the scene of a collision causing death.

On July 1, after five days of deliberations, a judge declared a mistrial when jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict. 

According to Read’s lawyers, four jurors have come forward and said the entire panel reached not guilty verdicts on two charges: second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a collision.

The jury remained deadlocked on the remaining manslaughter charge, according to the lawyers. Citing that evidence, the lawyers asked the judge in the case to dismiss the charges, but she declined.

Prosecutors vowed to retry the case. A new trial is scheduled for Jan. 27.

The O’Keefe family lawsuit accuses one of the bars, C.F. McCarthy’s, of serving Read seven drinks over roughly 1½ hours on the night of Jan. 28. The second bar, Waterfall Bar & Grille, served Read a shot and a mixed drink shortly afterward, the lawsuit alleges.

After she left the second bar around midnight on Jan. 29, the suit alleges, Read drove O’Keefe to the Canton house, where the other Boston officer was having a gathering.

O’Keefe and Read had been arguing, the suit alleges, when O’Keefe got out of the vehicle and Read fatally struck him.

In her criminal trial, Read’s lawyers said she watched O’Keefe enter the Canton house after she dropped him off. Hours later, she discovered that he had never come home and raced back to the house, where she found his body on the morning of Jan. 29.

The lawyers have alleged that O’Keefe was most likely beaten inside the home and left outside in the snow.