A Massachusetts woman and her husband recently spoke to local media about their experience welcoming an immigrant family into their home in the Boston suburb of Brookline and encouraging others to join them in opening their doors. , this is part of the thinking of one Democratic Party official. It should be a “shared responsibility.”
A Haitian immigrant couple speaks exclusively to WBTS-CD about their experience sleeping on the floor at Boston-Logal International Airport with their 2-year-old daughter who became ill during a trip to the U.S. and later at a children’s hospital. Told.
But that was until Wildande Joseph and her husband (whose name was not broadcast in the media) were welcomed into Lisa Hillenbrand’s apartment.
Joseph said her daughter is much happier now and wakes up every morning and says, “Hi, Lisa!”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey pause to view military cots installed on the floor of the gymnasium at the Melnea A. Cass Recreation Complex on January 31, 2024. The facility will house more than 300 migrants. (John Turmacchi/Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“I’m happy and I really enjoy having them around. I realized there’s a lot of prejudice against refugees, mainly because people don’t know about them,” Hillenbrand said, adding that thanks to Joseph, He told the magazine that he felt like he had his own personal chef. He loves cooking and dreams of opening a restaurant.
“They’re hard-working, they want to learn, they want to succeed. And I feel very helpful. And I get to understand the refugee crisis from the inside,” Hillenbrand said. She encouraged others to do what she did and volunteer at Brookline City Hall. A meeting will be held in the coming weeks to take in more migrants on their own.
This comes after Boston City Councilwoman Julia Mejia, a Democrat, recently called on residents of Brookline and other Boston suburbs to do the same.
“Dedham, Wellesley, Brookline — cities and towns that have far more resources than the city of Boston. People that actually have more financial support,” Mejia told WBTS. Ta. “We need to do everything in our power to help them succeed, or to see what success looks like. Everyone should open the door because this is a shared responsibility. I think.”
The interview, which aired on Monday, drew mixed reactions on social media, with some users criticizing Elon Musk for criticizing Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey’s handling of the immigration crisis last month. He pointed out that
“We’re running out of hotel rooms, pulling kids out of school for illegal housing, and now we want your homes too,” Musk wrote in a January post on Healy shared an old news article that he first asked residents in August. By 2023, if they are willing to help house immigrants in private residences.
The Green Line light rail passes through Coolidge Corner in Brookline, Massachusetts. Some Brookline residents have welcomed immigrant families into their homes. (Craig F. Walker/Boston Globe via Getty Images)
The Haitian couple have work permits and are taking English classes, WBTS-CD reported. Joseph’s husband told the outlet that he considers Hillenbrand his daughter’s new grandmother. In an interview from Hillenbrand’s couch, he said in Spanish that he wants to save money for the future.
The Caribbean country’s main languages are Haitian Creole and French, but the immigrant couple and the reporter tried to communicate in Spanish, the language spoken in Haiti.
Their interview comes as Colin and Jessica Stokes, also of Brookline, took another immigrant family into their home last week as the state’s shelters dealing with the influx of illegal immigrants into Boston and the state reached capacity. This was done after he spoke to another media outlet, WBZ, about his experience of being adopted.
Migrants sleep overnight in Terminal E at Logan Airport on January 26, 2024. (David L. Ryan/Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“My family is wonderful. I’m so grateful. It’s been amazing,” Jessica Stokes told WBZ. “It’s incredible to see how difficult it is on the front lines. … Just the dysfunction is really discouraging, and I know that all too well.” “Intentional people do as much as they can. They’re working hard. It’s an emergency, but it’s heartbreaking to see the amount.”
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When she and her husband called the state to say they were ready to take in migrants, Stokes said it took less than an hour for the migrants to be dropped off at their door. She and her husband are encouraging other residents to participate in the pilot program.
A woman walks her dog on a street in Brookline, Massachusetts. With the state’s shelter system over capacity, residents have offered to host migrants in their homes. (Craig F. Walker/Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“I have to put sheets on the bed, but how many people are coming?” she told the magazine, sitting on the couch next to her husband. “Where are they from? How old are they? We really didn’t know anything.”
“The need is clearly overwhelming,” Colin Stokes said. “It’s mind-boggling that there are hundreds of stories like that and people facing such stressful and traumatic changes.”
From left, Boston city officials, City Councilman Ed Flynn, City Councilman Erin Murphy and State Sen. Nick Collins discuss an office building in the Fort Point area being considered as the city’s next migrant shelter. (Erin Clark/Boston Globe via Getty Images)
After traveling from Chile to Texas to Massachusetts, the Stokes welcomed the family of four, who were sleeping on the floor of Logan Airport, into their home, even though they didn’t want to be seen on camera. Two immigrant children are waiting to enroll in school, but their parents were told the work permit process could take months, WBZ reported.
Healey, who declared a state of emergency last summer in response to the immigration crisis, said his administration has helped about 3,000 immigrants obtain work permits.
Her office plans to pull $8 million from the state budget to roll out a new pilot program to help 400 immigrant families find long-term housing outside of the state shelter system. ing. According to WBTS-CD, the resettlement agency is searching for apartments in eastern Massachusetts for the program and is using a 10-year-old state-run program called HomeBASE that aims to provide initial and final move-in costs. They will be tasked with helping immigrants navigate. Eligible families will receive monthly rent and a security deposit.
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Meanwhile, the state’s emergency shelter in Roxbury, Massachusetts, reached capacity in just one week. An office building in Boston’s Seaport is being eyed as the next potential home for immigrants, but Boston City Councilman Ed Flynn has expressed concerns about the building’s lack of running water and showers, WBZ said. reported.
