Readers Say

Readers agree with Gov. Healey’s ban on migrants sleeping at Logan Airport

Families and individuals are now barred from sleeping overnight at Logan Airport. Here’s why readers say it's the right move.

By Annie Jonas

July 9, 2024

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Newly arrived migrant families and homeless individuals will be banned from sleeping overnight at Logan International Airport starting Tuesday, amid a shortage of space at state shelters.

In an announcement on June 28, Healey said sleeping overnight in Logan Airport will no longer be permitted as of July 9. Staff members at Logan will inform families of the new policy and will help them secure transportation to another location where they have family or other options for a safe place to stay, according to the release.

Families who arrive at the airport and are on the state’s emergency assistance shelter waitlist will be offered transfers to the state’s safety-net system, including the Norfolk prison shelter that can accommodate up to 140 families at full capacity. Eligible families will continue to be placed in other safety-net and shelter sites as units become available. There are currently over 7,300 families in the emergency shelter system, according to the state’s dashboard.

When we asked Boston.com readers to weigh in, they overwhelmingly agreed with the policy. Ninety-six percent of the 651 respondents to our poll said they support the governor’s decision to bar overnighting at Logan, with just 4% against it.

“Enough is enough! The line needs to be drawn somewhere and Maura Healey’s decision to bar people from sleeping overnight at Logan Airport is absolutely the right one,” reader Jeff from Natick said.

Some immigrant and refugee service providers told Boston.com the policy to ban overnighting at the airport is “the right move,” especially when it comes to safety concerns for the families and their children.

“I don’t think it’s safe for families to sleep overnight at Logan Airport,” Jeffrey Thielman, the president and CEO of the International Institute of New England told Boston.com. The IINE is one of the oldest and largest social service organizations for new Americans, according to their website.

“I think the state has done its best to try to find alternative living situations for people on a temporary basis, including the new facility in Norfolk. I think it’s the right move to say that we can’t keep having families living at Logan, and I applaud the efforts to try to find alternative places for people to stay,” Thielman added.

Eric Segal, the founder of ArCS Cluster, which helps support local refugees and asylum seekers, agreed with the overnighting ban, saying “there has to be some kind of limit on what the state does.”

“This is a national problem, a global problem, and I agree with the governor that there’s no way Massachusetts can solve this,” Segal told Boston.com.

Segal said a principal complaint he has heard from families and individuals who have stayed at the airport was having tourists taking pictures of them. 

“Being at the airport, these poor people were kind of at the zoo, but they were the animals. If we can find other overflow shelters, in that way, that’s an improvement over the airport,” he added.

Reader John from Southborough, who supported the overnighting ban, agreed and said the “airport is not a dignified place to make people sleep and be gawked at.”

But others, like Maya Jamaleddine, a Melrose city councilor who had been taking food and supplies to the migrants sheltering at Logan since May, said the policy is not a solution to the issue.

“I 100% disagree with the policy,” Jamaleddine said in an interview with Boston.com. “The policy is to stop the backlash and the attack on Governor Healey’s office and this administration, but it’s not to provide any solution to those families,” she added.

The issue is a complex and urgent one with no easy solutions, according to Paul Belfanti, the president of Immigrant Support Alliance.

He told Boston.com in a written statement that “anyone who works to support immigrants can’t help but feel concerned as this policy goes into effect,” adding that “it’s hard not to think that the policy is driven at least partly by the bad optics of people in crisis sleeping on airport terminal floors, or by the desire to create a deterrent to migrants from out of state who see MA as providing more of a haven than wherever they are now.”

But, he said he’s not ready to criticize the governor’s response.

“I just hope that the decisions being made are taking into account the humanity of the people who are being affected by it and everything they’ve already been through,” Belfanti added.

Below, see a sampling of reader responses to Governor Healey’s decision to bar families from  staying overnight at Logan Airport.

Responses have been lightly edited for grammar and clarity.

Families and individuals will be barred from sleeping overnight at Logan International Airport starting July 9, 2024. Do you agree?

Yes, I agree

“It’s not safe for the families to sleep on the floor of the airport. There are countless empty homes in Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Ohio, all over middle America. There should be a federal policy to house immigrants and refugees in the states with the empty housing stock that already exists. They should not be housed in states with no available housing. It’s unclear thinking on the part of policy makers to send people where there is no available shelter.”

– Susan, Melrose

“The airport is not equipped to house anyone. Living in an airport with kids is not safe. I also think it’s time to revisit the sanctuary status, not to stop it but so that the influx of migrants can be controlled so a better chance of success and the proper amount of funds are allocated.”

– Dave, Woburn

“I arrived in to Terminal E in May and it was horrifying to see how people were sleeping in public spaces, bathing their kids in sinks used for hand hygiene, and there was no policing of the disruptive behavior. I have volunteered with refugee organizations since 2015. This is not how you treat people new to the country. This is a federal issue and the funds historically used to bring refugees into the country dramatically decreased under Trump, with many organizations shutting down. Where are those funds? And can they be used to help in this situation?”

– Rachel S., Marblehead

“The airport is a high-security location that should be restricted to active travelers. It is not a place for hanging out or for homeless people to stay at. However, active travelers should be allowed to stay overnight at the airport if their flight is delayed or canceled.”

– Jeff W., Framingham

“The airport is isolated and a place of business. If the goal is to integrate these people into the community then they need to be in the community.”

– R.D., Medford

“There are better, safer, more private options available.”

– J.D., South Shore

“A responsible and sustainable immigration policy, both at the federal and state level, means not taking in more people than you can reasonably absorb. Taking in so many people that they’re sleeping in airports is by definition a failure. It’s past time that Governor Healey, Mayor Wu, our senators and congress-people showed some respect and concern for the residents of this state. Said as a proud first-generation American.”

– Mark Q., Swampscott

No, I disagree

“We are a right to shelter state. If there is no overflow place like the airport when families arrive this means we are not providing shelter and are violating our own right to shelter law which has been in place for over 40 years.”

– Rita L., East Boston

“Provide them with proper shelter before barring them from sleeping overnight at the airport!”

– Tenny, New York 

“The airport is a place of travel and waiting around for flights. There needs to be room for those people who have paid to be there, whether they have a long layover or not, in an area free of clutter on the floor and elsewhere because people are sleeping and setting up their home base.”

– D.S., Allston

“It is not fair. Where are they supposed to go? This policy should expire when we get back to winter. Otherwise I fear tons of migrants will die if they have to remain outside.”

– James M., Quincy

“If the shelters are full, you have to find reasonable accommodations. As of now, this is one of the few options available for people who don’t have a place to sleep.”

– Kristine, Quincy

Boston.com occasionally interacts with readers by conducting informal polls and surveys. These results should be read as an unscientific gauge of readers’ opinion.