Migrants with no access to night shelters were allowed to stay at Logan Airport until last week. Now the only options are to sleep on the streets, try to find an open MBTA station, or take the commonwealth up on their offer to pay for a trip to another state.
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The situation for migrants seeking a roof over their head seems to be entering a new dire phase in Massachusetts.
With shelters at capacity and Logan International Airport now off limits as a place to sleep at night, some migrants and their families are ending up in the street.
Those staying at the Family Welcome Center (FWC) day shelter in Quincy say once the building closes at 5 p.m. every day, they are given the option to take a shuttle to the nearest MBTA station at Wollaston.
“Some people don’t want to go to the train station, others are on the street, but we decided to stay here,” said Alex Pierre of Haiti, who spent Tuesday night sleeping outside the shelter.
Pierre is one of several migrants in the Bay State stuck between a rock and no place to live.
“Sleep on the streets or at the train station,” said Pierre’s wife Nadine.
Ramiro Benjamin, who was also staying at the FWC said he also slept out in the street with his family Tuesday night. His pregnant wife has been bouncing between going to the hospital and looking for shelter.
“In terms of capacity we have gone above and beyond to try to house people here, particularly new arrivals to Massachusetts,” noted Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey during a press conference on Tuesday.
Last week the governor prohibited migrants from spending the night at Logan Airport.
When migrants leave the day shelters, the governor’s office says migrants are being offered “alternative services” including a paid trip elsewhere in the country if they wish to do so.
But migrants like Dusleidys Cardozo who fled from Venezuela said she and her family don’t know anyone in the country that could take them in.
“I’m not asking to be taken care of by the government, I’m asking for a temporary place to stay so I can get on my feet and start working,” she said. “That’s what we came for, to work.”
Speaking to NBC10 Boston’s @Issue last week, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said the state is sheltering over 20,000 people and that we need federal help.
“The transition of getting folks out of Logan Airport has worked pretty smoothly,” said Driscoll. “That is not a place where you want people sleeping, especially young kids and families. The transition of getting folks connected with family members or friends or into certain circumstances, that would be better than sleeping at Logan Airport, is happening every single day.”
"We’re doing as much as we can and we’re our values, but we need federal solution and federal action to insure that we’re meeting the demand and the cost of all of this for sure.”
Migrants who spoke with NBC10 said once they crossed the border to Texas, they were told by either someone at a shelter there, or by word of mouth, that Massachusetts would provide shelter and jobs.
The Healey administration has been trying to counter that message for months.
