Massachusetts Governor Calls on Residents to House Illegal Aliens in Their Guest Rooms
By Cassandra MacDonald Jul. 18, 2023
The so-called “host family strategy” is being put in place to combat the growing homeless population in the state, many of whom are not citizens.
WBUR reports, “The state’s new Family Welcome Center in Allston is tasked with recruiting, vetting and onboarding host families, as well as pairing them with the families in need.”
“This has previously been a practice among Resettlement Agencies and other volunteers who work to support new arrivals,” Gov. Healey’s press secretary Karissa Hand said in a statement about the strategy.
The center opened in late June, and it remains unclear how many migrants have already been placed in people’s homes. The report explains that the state has also not explained the vetting process for hosts — or the illegal aliens that they are being asked to house.
“The addition of this layer — of adding in host homes — really seems to be because of the urgency and current unmet needs,” said Kelly Turley, associate director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, according to the WBUR report. “This is something that they could get online very quickly if host families and hosts come forward.”
“We know that longer-term shelter and permanent housing would better meet the stability, safety, and service needs of newly arrived immigrants,” Turley said.
In November, former Governor Charlie Baker said that DC’s “inability” to stop the influx of migrants into the US would cost his state $139 million.
“Massachusetts’ emergency shelter system provides support for thousands of families each year, but a recent uptick in new migrant arrivals, coupled with a strained housing market have led to a need for greater capacity across the system,” said Governor Baker in a statement at the time.
Baker said the increase in migrants is “unfortunately driven by the federal government’s inability to address our country’s immigration challenges.”
