Sanctuary status was no longer as desirable as previously experienced in Massachusetts, when the immigrants actually begin to show up.
Massachusetts National Guard members were officially deployed as “rapid response teams” Wednesday to assist with the state’s bursting migrant shelters, as pressure mounts for President Biden to address the crisis in the state.
The move to deploy 250 members comes as Democrat Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency several weeks ago because of the strain on the shelter system.
“Massachusetts is in a state of emergency, and we need all hands-on deck to meet this moment and ensure families have access to safe shelter and basic services,” Healy said in a statement.
Currently, more than 6,000 migrant families are in emergency shelters across the state. Massachusetts is a right to shelter state, and must provide emergency housing to families in need.
National Guard members were sent Wednesday to 40 hotels and motels that don’t have service providers. Healey said they’ll coordinate access to meals, medical care and transportation.
“The plan that we have in place today with the deployment of the National Guard, which happened just last month, will put National Guard staff, soldiers, in locations as part of a response to our non-service providers, essentially creating rapid response teams in places that we don’t have the ground service contractors or case management services happening on a regular basis,” Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said Tuesday.
