GOV. MAURA HEALEY formally asked the Biden administration to take a number of steps to make it easier for migrants and refugees to legally find work, saying the state of emergency that currently exists in Massachusetts and other states could represent an opportunity to fill record levels of job vacancies.
In a letter dated Thursday but released on Friday, Healey said a significant influx of migrants into Massachusetts “shows no sign of abating.” A separate press release said more than 6,200 families with children and pregnant women – “many of whom are migrants” — are currently residing in emergency shelters.
Healey asked Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to take one of two steps – allow migrants and refugees to obtain temporary work authorization as soon as they request asylum or treat receipt of work authorization documents as provisional approval to accept a job. Healey’s letter indicated current rules prohibit any action by the federal government on work authorization within the first 150 days of a person’s arrival.
The governor also asked for a series of other regulatory changes to speed up and lessen the cost of the work authorization process and sought additional federal funding for states struggling to provide shelter to migrants and refugees.
Healey made clear that the state is being stretched to its financial limits providing shelter to the new arrivals. “Many of these new arrivals are drawn to Massachusetts for a safe haven, but arrive with neither the means nor personal connections to secure shelter and access to fundamental human necessities,” Healey wrote. “Relatedly they are limited from pursuing an opportunity to build new lives through their own hard work. As a result, the costs of our commitment to provide shelter and services are immense and stretched to a degree that is unprecedented in our state.”