A judge is considering a class action lawsuit combating Massachusetts’ plan to put a cap on the number of families that the emergency shelter system can support.
As the new month arrives on Wednesday, so too does a concerning situation for migrants looking for shelter in Massachusetts.
Simply put — Massachusetts is running out of space, and starting Wednesday, shelter will not be guaranteed. However, there's now a push to change that.
A judge on Tuesday heard a class action lawsuit filed by a group called the Lawyers for Civil Rights. The group is claiming Gov. Maura Healey and the agency overseeing the migrant family emergency shelters are not abiding by state law.
Assistant Attorney General Kim Parr argued the state does not have money to keep adding families to the emergency shelter system. But when pressed by the judge if the state has enough funds to hold off on the cap/waitlist for 90 days, Parr could not say for sure. She said there is not enough money in current appropriation to get through the end of the year with 7,500 families.
Right now, there are a little over 7,300 migrant families in the Bay State. Once that number reaches 7,500, the state will be at capacity for its ability to house migrants.
Healey has made it clear: though families won't be guaranteed housing when the limit is reached, the state — due to its right to shelter law — will not be turning away any new families. Instead, new families seeking shelter will be put on a waitlist — prioritizing the most vulnerable.
The lawyers for civil rights released a statement, saying that the waitlist was "rushed into place without any public process or requires notice to the legislature."
The group went on to write that the state legislature needed a 90-day notice for the idea — "the law requires the state to proceed in an orderly manner, to hear from the public, and to give the legislature a chance to weigh in."
The judge said she will have a final decision on Wednesday.
"The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities is reviewing the filing and will be offering no further comment at this time," a spokesperson with the department told NBC10 Boston in a statement.
