BOSTON — Members of the state’s congressional delegation are calling on the Biden administration to provide more funding to cover migrant costs and extend the time frame for federal work permits amid delays in processing extensions.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren call on the agency to “immediately” distribute Federal Emergency Management Agency funding through its Shelter and Services Program to Massachusetts and other states that “are in desperate need of federal support” amid a surge of migrants.
“Now is a critical moment to provide federal relief to Massachusetts as the Commonwealth continues its steadfast efforts to care for new arrivals and existing residents alike, as well as ensure the state’s long-term financial stability,” they wrote. “Given the far-reaching extent of this need, we also ask you to provide ample funding to locations such as Massachusetts, which are experiencing particularly notable increases in new arrivals.”
Congress earmarked $650 million in a recently approved federal supplemental spending bill for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide grant money to municipal governments and nonprofit groups to assist the homeless and newly arrived migrants.
The lawmakers called on the Biden administration to begin distributing the FEMA funding “expeditiously and equitably” to Massachusetts and other states wrestling with increased migrant costs. They noted that the state expects to spend nearly $1 billion over the next year to provide housing, food and other necessities to migrants.
“Over the past two years, families have been arriving in Massachusetts at a dramatic rate, which spiked in the second half of 2023,” they wrote. “The last round of SSP funds allocated to Massachusetts was in August 2023 and was based, in part, on a formula that did not fully capture the exponential growth of new arrivals in Massachusetts.”
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.
Meanwhile, Warren is leading a group of Democratic lawmakers in calling on the Biden administration to take “immediate action” to extend federal work permits for migrants.
In a letter to Biden and senior administration officials, the lawmakers urge the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to lengthen the automatic extension period for Employment Authorization Documents from 180 to 540 days. They also call on the federal agency to enact the proposed rules without a sunset date, or for at least three years.
The lawmakers, who included other members of the state’s delegation, said the move is essential to prevent the loss of employment authorization for hundreds of thousands of migrants amid paperwork processing delays by the federal government.
“Many lose their jobs, income, and access to driver’s licenses because of bureaucratic delays outside of their control,” the lawmakers wrote. “This severely limits their ability to pay rent, buy food, and support themselves and their families.”
“If they continue to work without authorization, they can also become removable from the United States, and their employers can be subject to civil penalties,” they added.
Massachusetts is dealing with a historic influx of thousands of migrants over the past year amid a surge of immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Gov. Maura Healey, a first-term Democrat who declared a state of emergency last year amid a surge of asylum seekers, has also pushed the Biden administration for more federal funding and expedited work authorization.
Under Massachusetts’ right-to-shelter law, the state is required to provide emergency housing to people regardless of their immigration status. Healey and Democratic legislative leaders has resisted calls from Republicans and others to scale back or temporarily lift the requirements amid claims that it is drawing more asylum seekers to the state.
The state is spending about $75 million a month – or roughly $10,000 per family – to provide housing and other needs for 7,500 migrant and other homeless families in emergency shelters.
House and Senate leaders are negotiating a supplemental spending bill that would provide hundreds of millions of dollars to cover migrants costs and set limits on the length of stay in state-run shelters, which now averages about 18 months.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com