Boston is opening a site once dedicated to housing veterans to illegal migrants.
Established in 1882, the Veterans Home in Chelsea, formerly known as the Soldiers’ Home, will, starting May 1, serve as a migrant “safety-net site” for a city whose resources are exhausted.
Migrant families being housed at Massachusetts overflow sites will have to follow new rules requiring them to recertify monthly and “demonstrate action toward getting work permits, jobs and housing,” officials said Monday, according to Boston 25 News.
“Approximately 240 families are currently living in state overflow sites, while 7,500 families reside in Emergency Assistance shelters,” the outlet reports.
As migrants continue to flow into the Bay State, Massachusetts’ Emergency Assistance family shelter system has been running at capacity for months, a fact noted by Emergency Assistance Director General Scott Rice.
“We have said for months now that our system is at capacity, and we do not have the space, providers or funding to continue expanding,” Rice said in a statement. “This new certification policy is a responsible step to address the capacity constraints at our safety-net sites. Families will need to demonstrate that they’ve taken action to get on a path toward independence and out of shelter.”
According to Boston 25, “During this recertification process, families will be evaluated on whether they have participated in state-provided services, including applying for a work authorization, participating in a workforce training program, submitting job applications, taking English classes, and searching for housing.”
While housing illegals in a former home for our nation’s veterans is enough to outrage many, it is worth noting that the former Chelsea Soldiers’ Home facility has been sitting vacant. According to Fox News Digital, it is “slated to be demolished since the state reopened a larger center atop Powder Horn Hill in December.”
And, it seems, for good reason.
In 2016, WCVB exposed the shocking conditions Boston veterans were enduring.
“We found what appeared to be mold in showers, an expired elevator inspection, out of order washing machines, and signs everywhere of peeling paint and overdue maintenance,” the outlet reported at the time.
(Video: YouTube)
“Last year, the state opened a new, state-of-the-art facility now known as the Massachusetts Veterans Home at Chelsea,” Boston 25 reports.
“Massachusetts has proven that we can take care of veterans and families experiencing homelessness in our state,” said Secretary of Veterans Services Dr. Jon Santiago in a statement. “While EOVS formerly operated the building slated for demolition, this project operates independently and will not impact the daily routines or services at the Massachusetts Veterans Home at Chelsea.”
Roughly 100 families, those with children or pregnant women who qualify for the Emergency Assistance program, will fill the new site, officials said.
Elizabeth Sweet, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition is concerned about the state’s recertification deadlines, claiming they will only “sow confusion.”
“While we understand state leaders are responding to a humanitarian crisis that is without precedent here in Massachusetts, we are deeply concerned that forcing families to reapply for emergency shelter each month will create unnecessary red tape, sow confusion, and ultimately, place more families on the street,” Sweet told Boston 25 in a statement.
“Implementing deadlines will solve little when immigrants are already striving to leave the emergency shelter system and provide for themselves and their families as quickly as possible,” she said. “Instead, state – and federal – leaders should focus on providing community service organizations the resources they need to support arrivals in pursuing work authorization, long-term housing, and case management services.”
“The migrant crisis has been complex for Massachusetts,” Fox News Digital reports. “The state’s newest emergency shelter, located in Roxbury, a neighborhood in Boston, reached its capacity of 400 people in just one week last month.”
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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