Massachusetts Refugees Are Fleeing These Countries

Whether or not you agree with the Massachusetts law that requires the state to find shelter for refugees, it is an occurrence that is happening more and more.  Refugees are coming to Massachusetts and landing here on the SouthCoast (as we've seen locally in hotels in Taunton, Fairhaven and Somerset).

Governor Maura Healey says the state is so overwhelmed with refugees that she needs to put a cap on accepting any more than 7,500 families.  She says there simply isn't enough shelter space, service providers, or funding to safely expand beyond that 7,500 number.  As of the beginning of this week, there were 7,319 families in emergency shelter.

When the total number of families reaches that 7,500 threshold, the governor says that the state will freeze the acceptance of more refugee families and others seeking help will be put on a waiting list for shelter.  When will this happen?  Officials expect the limit to be hit "imminently."

One of the valid questions on many people's minds are where exactly these refugee families are coming from.  You may be surprised to find out.

Thinking about the state of the world, I predicted that there must be quite a number of Ukrainian refugees throughout the United States (as well as right here in Massachusetts).  There have been 1303 refugees from that war torn country, 43 of them ended up here in the Bay State.  Washington ranked #1 with 412 of the 1303 refugees landing there.

War is also a factor for Massachusetts' top 3 nations of origin for refugees so far this year.  Take a look at the full list below.

Massachusetts is the only state in the country with a "right to shelter law."  The state spends $45 million dollars each month to house homeless residents and migrants who have arrived at the Massachusetts' doorstep.