HOW IT STARTED: AG Healey Statement on President Trump’s Executive Order to Remove Federal Funding From Sanctuary Cities.
Attorney General Maura Healey today issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s announcement that it will strip federal funding provided to so-called “Sanctuary Cities” in Massachusetts and across the country.
“Strong, independently-governed communities are part of what makes Massachusetts great. The President’s executive order is an irresponsible attempt to coerce our communities into conducting his mass deportations, and would impact all residents by stripping federal funding for roads, schools, police, health care, the elderly, and assistance for those in need. My office will be watching closely and I will be ready to stand with our cities and towns in the coming days.”
—Press release from then Massachusetts state AG Healy, January 25th, 2017.
How it’s going:
Massachusetts Democratic Governor Maura Healey recently announced plans to convert an active, state-owned recreation center into a homeless shelter for migrants, including those currently sleeping at Boston’s Logan Airport, WHDH reported Tuesday.
Healey’s decision to use the community center as a temporary overflow shelter for illegal migrants is facing backlash from local residents and families who utilize the center’s recreational space.
According to WHDH, Melnea Cass recreation center in Roxbury, a neighborhood in Boston, will begin welcoming migrants on Wednesday. The center will house up to 100 families or 400 individuals waiting for permanent accommodations.
Healey told the news outlet Tuesday that the decision was “just born out of necessity.”
“We’ve been all over the state,” she said. “We’re now coming to Boston.”
City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson described the Roxbury community as “very vulnerable.” She noted that programs currently held at the recreation center will be moved. It is unclear where they will be relocated.
“The constituents have been stating loud and clear, ‘You are displacing us,'” Fernandes Anderson told WHDH. “But this means that there’s an opportunity here.”
—The Blaze, Wednesday.
Flashback: Sanctuary Cities Seethe as Illegal Immigrants Actually Arrive.