Massachusetts calls up national guard to cope with migrants as protests rage
By Ronny Reyes
September 3, 2023 6:33pm Updated
https://nypost.com/2023/09/03/massachuse..._source=twitter


Massachusetts officials overwhelmed by arriving migrants have activated the national guard as they scramble for more housing, while aid groups say they have been pushed to the limit and protests abound.

Gov. Maura Healey mobilized 250 members of the Massachusetts National Guard on Thursday to help transport the latest wave of asylum seekers to shelters across the state.
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But much like the crisis overtaking the Big Apple, Massachusetts has nowhere near enough housing or resources currently available to accommodate the influx.

“Right now, the non-profits that are in Massachusetts are stretched and so thin they cannot provide anymore staff,” state Sen. Jamie Eldridge told CBS News.

While the National Guard can help with the lack of manpower, the state can do little to address the shortage of housing outside of creating new shelters, which local residents vehemently oppose.

Dozens of protesters came out Saturday to the Yarmouth Resort motel, where the state hopes to set aside 100 units for migrant families, many of whom include Haitian immigrants displaced by natural disasters.

People gathered outside the Yarmouth Resort motel to protest plans for the latest migrant shelter in Massachusetts. People gather outside the Yarmouth Resort motel to protest plans for the latest migrant shelter there in Massachusetts. CBS News Boston

The state's National Guard has been deployed to help transport the incoming migrants. The state’s National Guard has been deployed to help transport the incoming migrants. CBS News Boston

The protesters claimed that the state has prioritized the need of the migrants over the need of its own homeless residents, including veterans, with many at the rally flashing signs that read, “Vets and Cape Homeless First!!”

The hotel in Yarmouth is just one of more than 1,500 temporary hotels and new shelters set up across the state since 2022. -- excerpt, rest at link above --