Massachusetts is so swamped with illegal border crossers that the state has converted a community center in Roxbury into a shelter that is expected to house up to 100 families.
For anyone unfamiliar with Boston, Roxbury is not what you would call a high-income neighborhood, which is a crucial fact in this story. You won’t find anything like this happening in a wealthy enclave like Wellesley.
Not everyone in Roxbury is happy about this. FOX 25 News in Boston reports:
Roxbury neighbors concerned about recreation complex being used as migrant shelterMigrants who were sleeping at Logan Airport will have a new roof over their heads starting Wednesday. The Melnea Cass Recreational Complex in Roxbury will provide a temporary shelter to accommodate up to 100 migrant families. But not everyone thinks that’s the best spot.“It’s a shame that the community heard from the Governor and DCR under these circumstances and not before,” said Louis Elisa, who is the President of the Garrison Trotter Neighborhood Association.Elisa is a fixture in the Roxbury Community. He’s the president of a local neighborhood association he also worked for President Clinton with FEMA and NATO, so he knows how to resettle refugees and says the move to Roxbury falls short.“The space while good is a gymnasium. It will not provide the health and safety and security that you want for families,” said Elisa.Governor Maura Healey says she’s setting up shelters around the state and now it’s Boston’s turn.“This is prob the 8th or 9th major location that we’ve opened around the state. We’ve been all over the state. We are now coming to Boston. It’s just bourne out of necessity,” said Gov. Healey.Locals want to help but say it’s tough in a community already short on resources.“Things seem to be taken more from the community than given to it,” said Laura Keating of Roxbury.
Governor Healey put on a big show about this.
The Daily Mail has reactions from some locals:
The site will be home to up to 400 migrants, until the end of May, and the authorities, as a sweetener, have promised upgrades to the facilities when the migrants eventually leave.But many in the historically black and marginalized community were angry at the decision to hand over their sports center.’We sympathize with them, we as people in a community we love, but sometimes we love so many in spite of our own selves,’ said resident and community activist Clifton Braithwaite.Tony DaRocha, who coaches young athletes for free at the Boston United Track and Cross-Country club, said he has not been told where his team can now go – with a meet set for Sunday.’We empathize with what’s going on,’ he told CBS News.’But at the same time our kids are impacted negatively. Our program is one of the few stable times in their lives.’
Watch this report from CBS News in Boston:
At the end of this video, this local mom predicts that this is going to be a “shit show.”
It’s already a shit show, and no one seems to be able to explain the endgame.
Featured image via YouTube.
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