Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey Declares State of Emergency over Migrant Surge

Maura Healey, the Democrat governor of Massachusetts, has declared a state of emergency over a surge in migrants that she claims has overwhelmed the state’s social services apparatus.

Healey said in a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that she called the state of emergency due to “rapid and unabating increases in the number of families with children and pregnant people — many of them newly arriving migrants and refugees — living within the state but without the means to secure safe shelter in our communities.”

NEW: Mass Gov. Maura Healey declares a state of emergency due to a migrant surge in the liberal state.

She says there are more than 5,500 families receiving services “including very young children and pregnant people…” pic.twitter.com/Z8lF68bNXP

— Adam Shaw (@AdamShawNY) August 8, 2023

Healey said that “more than 5,500 families,” including children have been forced to live in emergency shelters or receive supportive services from the state.

“Many of these families are migrants to Massachusetts, drawn here because we are and probably have been a beacon to those in need,” she wrote. “These families require help to obtain housing, food, medical care, education, diapers, and infant formula. Some are fleeing imminent threats of violence. They all have one thing in common. They are in danger of going without the most basic human rights in one of the most prosperous places on earth.”

She blamed the crisis on a “confusing tangle of immigration laws, an inability for migrants to obtain work authorization from the federal government, an increase in the number of people coming to Massachusetts, and the lack of an affordable housing supply in our state.”

Healey’s call for federal help follows that of New York City, Chicago, and New York State.

The migrant crisis in New York City has reached a point of such unprecedented heights that New York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan announced recently that illegal immigration has been ushering a new wave of tuberculosis and polio into the city.

In a citywide letter to physicians and healthcare administrators last month, Vasan said that the more than 50,000 illegal immigrants that have come to New York City since last year caused a spike in contagious diseases like tuberculosis and polio.

“Many people who recently arrived in NYC have lived in or traveled through countries with high rates of TB,” he wrote, as reported by the New York Post.

Tuberculosis can be cured with antibiotics and generally takes six to nine months to fully recover. According to the Post, the city’s TB rate is now more than double the national rate with 6.1 cases per 100,000.

“Close to nine out of 10 (88%) of these TB cases are people born outside the United States,” it noted. “Every neighborhood in the city has had at least one case.”

“Commissioner Vasan’s letter called on New York to pull out all the stops providing migrants health care, food and legal services,” the Post continued. “Immigrants who lawfully apply for a visa must undergo health screenings and show they are vaccinated, and refugees are screened for TB before entering the United States.”

Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.