Massachusetts Delegation Calls for Additional Federal Support for Migrant Shelter and Service Programs

Letter

Secretary Mayorkas and Administrator Criswell,
We write to call your attention to the need for federal support in states like Massachusetts that
are struggling with a surge in migration. While the Shelter and Services Program (SSP) funding
is designed to support the type of services our state is now providing to 7,500 families, SSP
funding has not been equitably distributed, leaving Massachusetts to expend increasingly large
sums of money to provide humanitarian aid to arriving migrants. This presents a significant
challenge to Massachusetts and other interior states, which have encountered an unprecedented
influx of migrant arrivals. We ask that you continue supporting increased SSP funding levels and
ensure equitable distribution of SSP funds between interior states and border states.
On August 8, 2023, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey declared a state of emergency due to
the arrival of migrants seeking shelter and humanitarian aid in the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts. Massachusetts has been placed in a particularly precarious position, with the
Commonwealth recently announcing that it has run out of shelter capacity, forcing the state to
turn away migrants in need. Currently, around 30-40 families arrive each day in Massachusetts
seeking temporary housing, but only 15-20 families exit the emergency shelter system on a daily
basis. The discrepancy in these numbers has crippled the Commonwealth's ability to house and
feed both migrant and unhoused families in need.
The United States has been experiencing a virtually unprecedented number of new arrivals, with
an increasing trend of migrant families ending up in interior states like Massachusetts. This shift
in migration patterns has given interior states a larger role in the immigration process. States like
Massachusetts, New York, and Illinois have encountered significantly higher rates of migrant
arrivals over a short period of time, placing a heavy burden on states' systems that were not
designed to process such high numbers of arrivals.
We commend you both on your work to increase funding for the SSP in the Administration's
border supplemental request. Furthermore, we stand committed to both protecting our asylum
system and providing SSP dollars in the face of Republican attacks. SSP funds are vital to
support states encountering large numbers of migrants who need humanitarian assistance.
However, the $1.4 billion requested in the supplemental will not cover the high expenses states
are currently encountering, especially interior states. Massachusetts only received about $2
million dollars in funding from the program this year. As of August, Massachusetts was spending
more than $45 million a month to house, feed, and provide necessary medical services to migrant
families.1
Therefore, the $1.4 billion supplemental request is a fraction of the collective need of
our state, interior states, and border communities. As such, we urge you to distribute all future
SSP funds equitably, ensuring a fair and humanitarian response to the surge in migration.
We hope to continue working with you and Governor Healey to provide humane support for
families in need. We thank you both for your continued action and flexibility.

Source