Dozens of migrants sleeping on floors at Boston’s Logan International Airport face being forced to leave by the end of today after new state rules banning the practice went into effect.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced last month that the migrants had until July 9 to leave the airport and be given free taxpayer-funded accommodations in a former minimum-security dormitory-like facility in Norfolk. That deadline has now arrived, and the migrants are scheduled to receive their removal orders today.
Days before the announcement, about 300 migrants had been using the airport’s Terminal E as a shelter, lining the floors of Boston’s main airport with makeshift beds and air mattresses, but that number had dwindled to 56 by Monday, according to WCVB.
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Migrant Alex St. Louis tries to remove clothes from his suitcase after setting up makeshift beds for his family at Logan International Airport in Boston on May 23, 2024. (Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“We have made it very clear to anyone considering relocating to Massachusetts that we will no longer be able to provide them housing or accommodate them at Logan Airport,” Healy said.
The state opened the renovated Massachusetts Bay State Correctional Center last month, a former minimum-security dormitory-like facility that can hold 140 immigrant and homeless families, or about 450 people. The facility is on the grounds of the Massachusetts Correctional Institution, a medium-security prison.
WCVB reports that the repurposed dorms are currently home to 105 people, many of whom were previously staying at Logan Airport.
The Healey administration said in a statement to Fox News Digital last month that migrants currently in Logan would be offered accommodations in the Bay State, while others would be offered transfer to other new “safety net” facilities.
Immigrant families at the Norfolk facility have access to showers and bathrooms on each floor, a cafeteria, a gymnasium, a large common room, and offices used for case management and administrative activities.
There is also a play area for children and classroom space for adults to learn English or receive vocational training. The facility is staffed 24 hours a day by contracted service providers, and transportation to and from the facility is provided for families.
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On the left is the new immigration facility in Norfolk, and on the right are immigrants inside Logan Airport. (Google Maps, JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
It’s unclear how much the overall undertaking will cost taxpayers. The Healey administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
The administration said last month it was stepping up efforts to provide immigrants with housing assistance, work permit applications, job placements and English language courses.
Massachusetts has been forced to take a tough stance against new immigrants coming to the state in search of housing, with officials traveling to the southern border last month to tell border patrol agents, non-governmental organizations and migrants that there were not enough places to shelter in the state.
The Healey administration also distributed fliers in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole informing new immigrants that Massachusetts must develop a housing plan that does not include Logan Airport or the state’s shelter system.
Governor Healey declared a state of emergency last summer as he struggled to contain the crisis. The state says it is required to respond under a 1983 state law passed to deal with a relatively small number of homeless families and pregnant women, but critics say the law doesn’t apply to immigrants who are not U.S. citizens.
Some residents of Norfolk, a town of about 11,500, were outraged when they heard in May that the facility would be converted into a shelter for migrants. The town voted overwhelmingly for President Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
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Migrants who were sleeping on the floor at Logan Airport were ordered to leave. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
But Boston Mayor Michelle Wu welcomed the governor’s decision and said the federal government needed to step in to help.
“It’s a federal agenda that’s being forced upon cities and states that are perceived to be more welcoming than others, so they’re really struggling,” Wu told Boston 25 News.
Fox News Digital reached out to Wu’s office for further comment but did not immediately receive a response.
