About 100 migrant men, women and children camped out at Boston's main international airport. The state's shelter system was stretched to its limits in November, and the governor is asking the federal government to do more to help.
Footage obtained by CBS News showed rows of people sleeping on the floor. One woman, Keturah Douze, said she collected sanitary supplies to help them.
“While they're at the airport, they don't have access to a shower, so there are some shower towels and small hand towels just to clean up while they wait,” she said.
The scenes at the Boston airport are similar to those at Chicago's O'Hare. On January 4, 9,216 migrants were sleeping in the airport, according to WGN.
In November, emergency shelters in Massachusetts reached capacity with 7,500 families. Some are now being housed in hospital waiting rooms and church halls.
Migrants are seen sleeping in the international terminal at Logan Airport in Boston
Maura Healey, the Democratic governor, asked the federal government on Monday for more help with the arrival of migrants
Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, on Monday called on the federal government to provide more help. When migrants were stranded at the airport seeking refuge in November, the airport's CEO said the situation was “unsustainable.”
“We need DC to act.” “We need Congress to act,” she said at a news conference.
“The path is there for what needs to be done to improve the border situation, regulate some of the asylum procedures and provide much-needed funding to some of the landlocked states that have had to bear the burden of a problem geopolitical and not created by the state.”
Healey called for $250 million in additional funding this year to address the crisis.
Her office estimates the crisis could cost Massachusetts $915 million next year.
Healey praised airport personnel and state police for their assistance with the migrants.
“The airport has been a wonderful partner and I really want to thank the people at the airport who are doing a wonderful job, including the members of the State Police who are working their regular shifts but managing the flow of people in and out of the airport.” She said.
The photo shows migrants sleeping at Logan Airport in November. The CEO said the situation was unsustainable and cleared them away, but they have returned
Migrants are seen camping in a public transportation building in Boston as shelters are full
In November, Massport interim CEO Ed Freni told reporters that the airport was “not an appropriate place to stay” for migrants, with 20 to 25 migrants arriving daily and some being seen sleeping at the facility.
“When they come to Logan, we meet them and try to help them, but we have to emphasize that Logan is not an appropriate place to house people,” Freni told reporters.
The airport is working with partners to transport the migrants to reception centers and is looking for “other solutions for the future,” Freni said.
Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has been sending busloads of migrants from his state north since 2022 to let Democratic mayors and governors participate in his fight – and to put pressure on Joe Biden.
The policy worked: Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, was particularly clear in demanding that Biden, a fellow Democrat, do more.
New York City has seen 33,600 of the 90,000 migrants Abbott sent north. Most of the rest went to Chicago and Washington DC.
Abbott did not send buses to Boston, but many migrants struggling in those already overcrowded cities have ended up in Boston.
In August, Healey declared a state of emergency in her state.
She said 80 percent more immigrants have already arrived compared to last year.
“This is exponentially more than our state has ever provided in our emergency relief program,” she said. “These numbers are driven by a surge in new arrivals to our country who have endured some of the most difficult journeys imaginable.”