Connect with us

Massachusetts

Healey administration won’t say how many hosting migrants in Massachusetts

Published

on

Healey administration won’t say how many hosting migrants in Massachusetts


The size of a program for newly-arrived migrant families to temporarily stay with private residents is unclear a week after the Healey administration called for more people to open up their homes.

A spokesperson for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services said state officials have heard from Massachusetts residents “who have graciously offered to host families at their homes.”

“We are currently collecting their information and developing a process for implementation,” the spokesperson said in a statement to the Herald on Wednesday.

But the spokesperson did not say how many residents have become hosts since Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency on Aug. 7. A Healey spokesperson also did not say last week whether any state employees or lawmakers have stepped forward.

Advertisement

Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll last week called on those with an “extra room or suite in your home” to consider hosting families as the state experiences significant strain on its emergency shelter system with an influx of migrants and surging housing costs.

“Safe housing and shelter is our most pressing need. Become a sponsor family,” Driscoll said. “You can contact the Brazilian Worker Center for more information on how you can step up if you’re willing to have an additional family be part of your family.”

The Brazilian Worker Center recruits host families, determines their suitability, onboards them, and matches them in “appropriate circumstances” with newly arrived families, according to Healey administration.

There were 15 to 20 families in Massachusetts before the emergency declaration that were mostly active in hosting migrant families on the weekends for a few days, according to the administration

Multiple attempts to reach the Brazilian Worker Center this week through a general email, online contact form, calls to their office phone, a social media message, and a Friday morning email to the center’s executive director were unsuccessful.

Advertisement

An expansion to the residential hosting program comes as a single Republican Massachusetts lawmaker running for Senate has called for a repeal of the state’s right-to-shelter law, which requires local officials to provide shelter and assistance to homeless families.

“Our homeless shelters are maxed out. Hotels across the state have been converted to shelters. And the problem is growing on a daily basis,” state Rep. Peter Durant said in a statement earlier this month.



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Massachusetts

Should cameras catch drivers speeding in Mass. as Healey proposes?

Published

on

Should cameras catch drivers speeding in Mass. as Healey proposes?


Massachusetts has become notorious for bad driving – a behavior that proponents of speed cameras say leads to hundreds of fatalities every year.

Gov. Maura Healey is one of those supporters who is trying to get the Legislature to pass her proposal that’s attached to her next spending budget.

The proposal would allow speed cameras only and not cameras that catch people running red lights.

“I think for us, it’s a quality of life issue,” Healey told a crowd during the Massachusetts Municipal Association Connect 351 conference in Boston Friday morning.

Advertisement

The measure would leave it up to cities and towns in Massachusetts to decide if they want to install the street cameras.

“Many communities have put forward a home rule petition on speeding enforcement, and we can’t have a cop on every corner,” said Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll at the same event. “We know we can use technology. This isn’t about revenue, it’s about keeping roads safe, impacting the quality of neighborhoods.”

According to state data, Massachusetts recorded more than 130,000 crashes last year, with a year-average of 380 fatalities over the past decade.

“Speeding is probably the biggest risk factor in terms of whether somebody survives or dies in a crash,” said StreetsBlog Mass Editor Christian Milneil.

Milneil has been keeping track of similar proposals for years. About half of all U.S. states have cities that have implemented traffic enforcement cameras.

Advertisement

He said the bill addresses privacy concerns, as well, limiting how long the images can be kept, and limiting what they can be used for outside of traffic enforcement.

“They initially catch a lot of people breaking the law, but over time, they’re very effective, and they actually don’t issue that many fines, because people know that they need to obey the speed limit, which isn’t really the case right now,” he added.

“Boston and Cambridge have been on the record in supporting this type of technology,” noted Massachusetts Municipal Association CEO Adam Champdelaine. “It gives the local government official, the police chief, the mayor, the manager, the ability to make a decision about what they think is best to keep their streets safe.”

“It doesn’t seem like a lot of speeding tickets are being given out, and people are driving faster than ever,” complained Boston resident Noah Sachs.

“We really don’t like them at all. We just think it’s not, good like it’s sort of invading your privacy,” said California resident Laurie Romero, who was visiting Boston on Friday.

Advertisement

Milneil said the cameras would issue a warning for a first speeding, then a $25 fine for every violation after the first.

The Legislature has until the end of June to vote on the governor’s budget, which the camera measure is tied to. If passed, it would still take about a year before municipalities can implement the technology.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Massachusetts

Thousands of migrants legally fled to Mass. under a Biden-era policy. Trump’s latest directive could change everything. – The Boston Globe

Published

on

Thousands of migrants legally fled to Mass. under a Biden-era policy. Trump’s latest directive could change everything. – The Boston Globe


Migrants who entered under two programs — the CBP One application migrants used to schedule appointments to enter the US, and a Biden administration initiative that let in certain migrants fleeing Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti — could be affected by the memo, which was signed late Thursday by the acting head of the Homeland Security Department.

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In Massachusetts, advocates estimate that tens of thousands of people came to the state under these humanitarian provisions, which give temporary permission to stay in the United States. Many of the migrants who have made their way to the state have spent months waiting in Mexico, at migrant shelters or in rented rooms, in cities that are rife with cartel violence and kidnappings.

They do this, many have told the Globe, for an opportunity to enter the US legally, and work in the country with authorization, under the Biden era programs that looked to curb illegal border crossings and offer legal pathways for entry.

Advertisement

But now, some of these migrants could be under threat of being targeted for deportation, particularly if they have yet not applied for another legal status, such as asylum or Temporary Protected status, legal advocates say.

These families, Yountz said, “have followed all of the rules under the previous administration.”

“Trump has said he’s going after murderers and criminals. But in reality, his strategy is quite lazy,” Yountz said. “He’s going after people who followed the rules and are currently in legal parole status because they willingly offered their name and addresses to the federal government.”

Jeffrey Thielman, who runs the Boston resettlement agency International Institute of New England, served 16,000 people with humanitarian parole status in 2024 alone. This large class of immigrants include many families that fled desperate conditions or war in their home countries.

On Friday, he told his staff to “keep your heads down” and continue to help connect clients with federal benefits, English classes, and to coordinate apartment searches. His staff also work to enroll children in schools, sign families up for medical insurance, and prepare people for job interviews, among other things.

Advertisement

“It’s unethical and immoral that the United States of America allowed people into this country for humanitarian purposes and is now turning their backs on them,” he said. “It’s fundamentally wrong. This is not the way the rule of law should work.”

Humanitarian parole has been used as a legal tool for decades, allowing people admission to the country who were unable to use other pathways because of political and economic strife or their home country’s poor relations with the United States. Under the Biden administration, half a million Cubans, Haitian, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans were welcomed as part of the program, which allowed migrants to live and work lawfully for two years while they applied for longer-term status.

The move to undo the protection, which was first reported by the New York Times, is one of a flurry of actions the Trump administration has taken in recent days to follow through on his campaign promises of cracking down on immigration.

Yountz, the immigration attorney, said while there are thousands of immigrants in Massachusetts under these humanitarian provisions, most have either applied for, or received, Temporary Protected Status or asylum, which would seem to offer a layer of protection of deportation under this memo, Yountz said.

It does not mean that these residents “are going to fall into undocumented status,” Yountz said.

Advertisement

“This is not a wholesale revocation of parole,” Yountz said.

But those who have not applied for other kinds of status and are just here under parole appear to be particularly vulnerable.

“We are concerned. There is a vagueness to this memo, and many of Trump’s orders, that make it unclear who will, or will not be, swept up,” she said.

Regardless, Pastor Dieufort Fleurissaint, better known as Pastor Keke, a prominent advocate in Greater Boston’s Haitian American community, called this a “heart-wrenching situation.”

He has been receiving a flurry of calls since Monday, when the Trump administration released a stream of executive orders, many of them immigration-related, from concerned Haitians in Massachusetts asking how they would be affected by the new rules.

Advertisement

Since many were in the country legally under humanitarian provisions, Pastor Keke tried to assuage their fears, assuring them they would likely be safe. But when he saw the news of the internal memo last night, his heart sank.

“I’m very worried, because they [ICE] already know where these people are located,” he said. “This is the reality, and we have to face it.”

Already, he has heard that some migrants are avoiding their English classes, health appointments, and staying home because they’re panicked.

“That news last night will heighten the tension,” he said. “Now, even people with humanitarian provisions are not immune from deportation . . . this is a very, very critical situation.”


Advertisement

Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio can be reached at giulia.mcdnr@globe.com. Follow her @giuliamcdnr. Samantha J. Gross can be reached at samantha.gross@globe.com. Follow her @samanthajgross.





Source link

Continue Reading

Massachusetts

Globe Top 20 boys’ hockey poll: Who is the new No. 1 and which team jumped six spots? – The Boston Globe

Published

on

Globe Top 20 boys’ hockey poll: Who is the new No. 1 and which team jumped six spots? – The Boston Globe


There’s a lot of movement in this week’s Globe Top 20 boys’ hockey poll, as a busy week highlighted the immense parity of this season.

Hingham rises to the top spot after Pope Francis fell, 2-1, to Braintree, the first team from Massachusetts to beat the Cardinals this season. Xaverian jumps six spots, racking up three victories, including eye-raising results over St. John’s Prep and Catholic Memorial.

Billerica passed a big test against Tewksbury and cracks the top 10 for the first time. Braintree re-enters the poll after a one week hiatus, climbing to 15.

Advertisement

Records based on scores reported to the Globe.

The Globe’s Top 20 boys’ hockey poll

The Globe poll as of Jan. 23, 2025. Teams were selected by the Globe sports staff.

No. Team Record Previous
1. Hingham 10-1-1 2
2. Pope Francis 10-2-0 1
3. Reading 8-1-1 3
4. Xaverian 7-4-1 10
5. St. John’s Prep 7-4-0 4
6. Catholic Memorial 8-5-0 6
7. Belmont 7-3-0 8
8. Arlington 7-4-1 5
9. BC High 5-4-2 9
10. Billerica 13-0-0 11
11. Woburn 9-2-0 12
12. St. Mary’s 10-3-1 14
13. Tewksbury 9-2-1 13
14. St. John’s (Shrewsbury) 7-5-0 7
15. Braintree 5-4-1
16. Concord-Carlisle 9-1-1 20
17. Archbishop Williams 7-6-0 17
18. Arlington Catholic 8-4-0 16
19. Nauset 10-0-1 19
20. Marshfield 8-3-1 15

Cam Kerry can be reached at cam.kerry@globe.com.

Advertisement





Source link

Continue Reading

Trending