Gov. Healey expands legal services for migrants living in emergency shelters

The Healey administration plans to expand legal services for migrants living in emergency shelters in Massachusetts to help them access work authorizations and use state funds to pay for their online application filing fees.

Gov. Maura Healey has repeatedly said the lack of efficient access to work authorizations is one the main drivers of an overburdened shelter system. Speaking to reporters earlier this week, a frustrated Healey again called on the Biden administration to speed up work permits.

In a statement Thursday, Healey said the Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants and the Executive Office of Health and Human Services plan to offer legal aid services for new arrivals who are legally allowed to be present in the United States.

The two offices will partner with refugee resettlement agencies to provide case management and other services, “with the goal to enable shelter residents to begin working sooner and reduce the strain placed on the emergency assistance system,” the administration said in a statement.

“[The agencies] will also receive funding from the state to pay for the filing fees to allow for online application filing, which can help to expedite the work authorization process,” the administration said in a statement. “The full expansion is expected to cover more than 70 percent of shelters in the state who do not have service providers.”

Healey said many families have come to Massachusetts in the last few months looking for a place to live and work, and her administration wants “to help people make this a reality as soon as possible.”

“While we continue to advocate for the federal government to make desperately needed changes to the work authorization program, this program is an important step for us to provide legal assistance that can speed up this process and help put people on the path to get work, support their families and address our workforce needs,” Healey said in a statement.

More than 6,500 families — both migrants and local homeless residents — are living in emergency shelters across Massachusetts.

Healey has criticized the Biden administration multiple times for what she has described as a cumbersome and lengthy process for migrants to apply for work authorizations.

Healey is not the only Democrat raising the alarm.

More than 60 Democrat and Republican state lawmakers called on Congress Thursday to pass immigration reforms and update federal rules to efficiently grant new arrivals the authorization to work.

Organizations providing legal assistance include the Refugee Immigrant Assistance Center, Jewish Family Services of Metrowest, and the Organization for Immigrant and Refugee Success.

A total of eight groups will offer services by mid-October to more than 40 temporary emergency shelters, the administration said.

Eligible individuals are new arrivals and asylum seekers who are legally allowed in the U.S. after seeking entrance at the border through the Customs and Border Patrol pre-scheduled appointment system for asylum seekers.

Successful work authorizations can be completed in about six to eight weeks, according to the administration.

“Lawyers will meet with families in shelter, assess their eligibility for work authorization and asylum, and assist in filing the necessary applications online,” the administration said. “Resettlement agencies will also conduct follow ups to make sure that families attend any essential appointments needed to finalize the process.”