Massachusetts Welcomes Migrants, But Towns Are Worried - The New York Times:
In Massachusetts, the only state with a right-to-shelter law that guarantees every family with children a place to stay, the crisis has been accelerating, with more than 80 cities and towns receiving migrants to date. (New York City has a similar law that has generated tumult and debate and that goes further, requiring it to provide shelter to anyone who asks.) The number of families living in emergency shelters and hotels statewide has doubled in the past year, to nearly 6,300 last week; the cost has ballooned to an estimated $45 million per month.
We have about forty of these families currently housed in the Days Inn here in Greenfield. Other than the usual small band of racist, xenophobic assholes complaining about it in their creepy Facebook groups, there do not seem to have been any significant issues or challenges yet.
From the Times article, it sounds like the problems are mostly logistical ones—these folks are prevented by law from quickly and easily finding work and the people trying to help get them connected with the stuff they need are over-burdened and stretched thin.
I feel like this should be a solvable problem if we should just get over ourselves, but like so much else that seems broken right now, it comes down to systemic issues. People need jobs and places to live, but both are hard to find around here for—waves hands around wildly—reasons. It feels like, being among the wealthiest states in the country, we ought to be able to find this stuff for people who want to come and live here. I also feel like if so many families are willing to up-end their lives and risk everything to get here, we ought to help them out and welcome them.
I also think that, as the poorest county in Massachusetts, we ought be to getting a bit more help than we are from the state, but everyone in Boston seems to think that everything west of 495 is a vast, empty wasteland.