BOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey announced Friday that migrant families will no longer be permitted to sleep overnight at Boston’s Logan International Airport come July.
The Healey-Driscoll administration said that the decision comes as a result of recent efforts to open a new safety-net site at the old Norfolk prison, move more families out of shelters, and share a message at the U.S. southern border that Massachusetts is out of shelter space.
Families currently sleeping at Logan will be forced to leave the airport as of Tuesday, July 9. Those who are on the Emergency Assistance shelter waitlist will be offered transfers to the state’s new safety-net system, including in Norfolk, which opened this week and will accommodate up to 140 families at full capacity.
The number of migrants sleeping at Terminal E has been an issue for months. The crowding recently led to a physical altercation between two migrant families inside the terminal.
Staff at Logan will work with families to inform them of this new policy and their options, including helping them secure transportation to another location where they have family or another option for a safe place to stay.
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“The administration has worked diligently in recent months to increase the number of families leaving shelter into more stable housing. With this progress, the recent opening of a new safety-net site in Norfolk, and the new nine-month length of stay policy, we are now in a position to end the practice of families staying overnight in the airport. This is in the best interest of families and travelers and staff at Logan, as the airport is not an appropriate place for people to seek shelter,” Emergency Assistance Director Scott Rice said in a statement. “We are going to continue to spread the word that Massachusetts is out of shelter space and that, if families are traveling to Massachusetts, they need to be prepared with a plan for housing that does not include Logan Airport or our Emergency Assistance shelters.”
Earlier this week, Healey sent a team to the southern border to discuss the lack of shelter space in Massachusetts, as record numbers of migrants continue to arrive in Boston.
Residents in the town of Norfolk held a protest on Wednesday afternoon just hours after the first migrant families arrived at the old Bay State Correctional Center. Neighbors have been questioning how the small town can support the more than 400 migrants expected to be housed at the shelter.
Healey’s administration noted that it will continue to get the word out through flyers in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole to let families know that if they are traveling to Massachusetts, they need to be prepared with a housing plan that does not include Logan Airport or the state’s shelter system.
Boston 25 News has asked MassPort for a statement on this development but there wasn’t one immediately available.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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