WOBURN, Mass. — It is Election Day in Massachusetts and Mayor Scott Galvin is seeking a seventh term. In his recent sixth term, he’s been dealing with an issue common to many cities and towns in the Commonwealth - an influx of migrants needing emergency shelter.
In fact, the migrants are entitled to emergency shelter -- thanks to the state’s Right to Shelter Law, passed forty years ago. It requires the state to find shelter for homeless families and/or women who are pregnant.
“It was meant at that time to handle people from Massachusetts who became homeless,” said Galvin. “It wasn’t meant or not passed to accommodate what we’re seeing now.”
What the state is seeing now is an unprecedented wave of migrants -- often fleeing war-torn countries such as Haiti. Governor Healey told Boston 25 News 40-50 migrants a day are coming to the state -- legally -- their entry approved by the federal government.
Healey flagged the situation as a crisis a few months ago -- and asked the legislature for an additional $250 million supplemental appropriation to deal with it. Those funds could be approved this week.
[ Mass. lawmakers look to require ‘overflow’ site for migrant families on shelter waitlist ]
But Galvin worries such an appropriation will mean lifting Governor Healey’s 7,500 family cap on emergency housing -- which is about 60 families away from being reached. That’s because a judge last week allowed the cap to stand because the Right-to-Shelter law is contingent on funding.
“To me, the indication that there’s another $250 million is to keep this program going,” Galvin said. “The real issue is the Right-to-Shelter law and the need for it to be amended and changed to reflect today’s realities.”
And the reality is, communities like Woburn have been taxed by the new arrivals -- which rose from ten families in August to nearly 150 now. Galvin said they include 77 school-age children who enrolled this fall. And there are another hundred migrant students likely to enter next fall -- should they remain in Woburn.
“The migrant children come with additional needs that we really weren’t prepared to address,” Galvin said. Fortunately, DESE (the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) funneled more money to Woburn because of the extra student load -- such that the district was able to hire additional teachers.
But DESE can do little to alleviate over-crowded classrooms.
Galvin said Woburn is doing more than its share to help with the migrant shelter situation -- and that’s for one reason.
“Communities like Woburn that have hotels are the ones bearing the brunt of this challenge,” he said.
In fact, Woburn has twelve hotels.
Galvin said ultimately the solution is to amend the Right-to-Shelter law.
“It needs to be changed because you just can’t keep throwing money at something that’s unsustainable,” he said. “It’s not fair to the state taxpayers and it’s not fair to communities like Woburn that are feeling the brunt of it.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW