Migrant families continue to arrive in Massachusetts. They are sheltering at Logan Airport because they have nowhere else to go. Just before Thanksgiving, state officials announced a plan to house k in need of shelter in the second-floor conference rooms of the State Transportation Building in Boston. The Massachusetts House has discussed using Hynes Convention Center as another site. Few details have emerged regarding new overflow shelters however, as the weather gets colder the calls for action will grow more urgent. In an interview with WBUR, Lyndia Downie, president and executive director of Pine Street Inn, said, “We don’t want anybody to be out there in the cold, and we’ve all got to really figure out a way to get through the next few months.” Individuals staying at Pine Street Inn have been forced to sleep in chairs or on the floor in recent weeks. According to the Boston Public Health Commission, on October 31, the number of people staying in adult homeless shelters in Boston was 16% higher than on the same date last year. And still, more people are arriving.
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The Biden administration has used its limited powers to improve some aspects of the immigration system, for example in its humanitarian parole program for individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Biden has also requested emergency supplemental funding from Congress for management of the southern border and improvement of immigration processing, but this will require debate and deal-making in the House and Senate. Congress, fresh off approval of a temporary spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, will only have another two months to negotiate a long-term funding package before another shutdown threatens. The temporary spending bill requires full-year appropriations for some federal agencies by January 19th and others by February 2nd, meaning a partial or full government shutdown could occur if a deal is not reached by then. It’s unclear whether Biden’s funding requests will be part of the package.
Housing and shelter are clear priorities as the winter season takes holds in . As the Healey administration works to set up overflow sites, the state is also putting money into legal services for immigrants. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell recently announced $780,000 for 13 non-profit legal service organizations as part of her Immigrant Legal Services Grant Program. These organizations will provide legal services for immigrants, assisting them in accessing benefits and work authorization. Campbell’s grant program also funds much-needed technology upgrades to case management systems. It’s important to reduce the bureaucracy in the immigration system and make it easier for immigrants to receive work authorization, and to this end the state has also partnered with the Department of Homeland Security to host work authorization clinics for migrants in shelters. The goal is to get eligible people work authorization two to three weeks after attending a clinic – the normal timeline is three to four months. This will not only benefit newly arrived immigrants, who can begin working and receiving paychecks, but the state’s economy also.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell credits immigrants working in the United States with keeping the economy afloat in the post-pandemic world. In Mass, immigrants make up 18% of the state’s population and 25% of the state’s entrepreneurs. He posits that the US economy will only be strengthened by supporting our immigrants. It is obvious that our nation’s immigrants are vital for the health of our society and our economy.
The presidential election is a little less than a year away. Biden is facing pressure from his own party on a number of key issues, including the Israel-Hamas war, the Russian-Ukraine war and the continuing immigration crisis.. If Biden is unable to use his soft power to improve the immigration system, and if Congress is unable to pass meaningful legislation and an acceptable budget, Republican candidates could exploit the current strain on the American people. Trump has promised a crackdown on immigration, with sweeping raids, detention camps, and mass deportations, as well as an end to Biden’s humanitarian parole program. Immigrants who are now legally working and strengthening the American economy may find themselves in danger of being deported.
Democrats and Republicans must work towards common-sense immigration reform They must strike a balance between supporting the economic benefits of a vital immigrant labor force and reducing the strain which rapid immigration growth is placing on the country.
