BOSTON — Massachusetts is spending millions of dollars to provide emergency housing, food and legal assistance for thousands of refugees and asylum seekers, but isn’t getting much help from the federal government.
The state has seen an influx of migrants over the past year amid a surge of immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border, prompting Gov. Maura Healey to create a new immigration services program to coordinate efforts with nonprofit groups to provide housing, food and other assistance to the new arrivals.
Last week, the Healey administration announced that it was distributing $1.75 million in state funding to 17 nonprofits that are providing care for about 800 asylum-seeking families. The money will help migrants find emergency housing, enroll in school and child care programs, and receive legal representation.
But, so far, the state’s taxpayers are on the hook for most of those costs.
Congress earmarked $800 million in a federal spending bill approved in December for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide grant money to municipal governments and nonprofit groups to assist the homeless and newly arrived migrants.
In May, FEMA announced that $350 million of that would be distributed through its soon-to-be-phased-out Emergency Food and Shelter Program, which provides grant money to municipal governments and nonprofit groups.
Boston received only about $877,000, according to the federal agency.
By comparison, New York City received about $30 million. Chicago got $4.3 million and Atlanta received more than $6.8 million.
El Paso, Texas, a Southern border town that has seen a massive influx of asylum seekers, received more than $22 million from the fund, according to FEMA.
Members of Massachusetts’ congressional delegation, who have pushed for more federal money, say the funding is inadequate to cover the cost of providing care for asylum seekers, refugees and those arriving on special immigrant visas.
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Salem, said while the funding is welcome, the state still lacks “sufficient resources” to take care of the influx of immigrants.
“Nonprofits and local governments are doing admirable work to help people, but we must continue to support their efforts,” Moulton said.
The Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition, which has been working with the Healey administration to provide information and assistance to newly arriving migrants, agrees that more federal funding is needed.
“It’s a big concern that we don’t seem to be getting any federal help,” said Sarang Sekhavat, the coalition’s political director. “There’s a huge need and it’s unfortunate that Washington, D.C., seems to be so paralyzed on this issue.”
Last year, FEMA awarded more than $3.1 million to Massachusetts nonprofit organizations to provide shelter, food and other services for the homeless through the program. That included $408,915 for Essex County and $640,137 for Middlesex County groups.
FEMA is phasing out the program and said it expects to distribute an additional $130 million in grants from the new initiative, called the Shelter and Services Program. But the agency has not announced which cities and nonprofits will receive the funding or when.
The state also received about $2.6 million through the Office of Refugee Resettlement in fiscal 2022, based on the estimated 1,000 refugees and asylum seekers who arrived in the previous year. But advocates say the number of migrants has increased dramatically in the past year.
Healey said her administration is pushing to “maximize resources, funding, and support” from the federal government with a focus on expediting federal work authorization for migrants – a process that can take up to six months.
“We’ve got people who would otherwise be eligible to work and we’ve got jobs that need to be filled,” Healey told reporters at a briefing Monday. “This is an issue that isn’t limited to this region, and other governors are saying the same thing.”
Under Massachusetts’ right-to-shelter law, the state is required to provide emergency housing to people regardless of their immigration status.
Healey’s fiscal 2024 budget, which is still being considered by the state Legislature, called for more than $2 million in funding for the Office of Refugees and Immigrants, a $280,000 or 16% increase from the previous fiscal year.
It’s not clear if that request will be included in the final budget, which is subject to House and Senate negotiations.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com
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