QUINCY, MASS. (WHDH) - During a meeting Monday night the Quincy City Council passed a resolution by a vote of 6-3 calling on state leaders to amend the state’s right-to-shelter law.
That law requires the state to provide emergency shelter to families and pregnant women regardless of their residency or citizenship status.
Monday’s vote asks state leaders to prioritize people who have lived in Massachusetts for at least six months and are U.S. citizens or permanent residents in state shelters.
City Council President Ian Cain suggested this resolution about two weeks after several migrant families, including children, began sleeping outside of the Wollaston MBTA station.
“This is not being managed with utmost care consideration and compassion if we are treating people who are coming to this country for a better life and turning them into the next class of homelessness in Massachusetts,” he said.
Opponents said they can’t support his methods but appreciate the city taking some form of action.
“Let’s find actual roofs to put over these people’s heads before we invite more people in with the promise of shelter when we don’t have said shelter,” fellow City Councilor Nina Liang said.
Cain said changes need to be made at the state level.
“There’s been a lack of action taken at the state level to amend this rule so that the state shelter system doesn’t continue to be burdened and that these vulnerable individuals and families do not continue to be prioritized,” he said.
Despite the resolution being voted in favor, some in the audience at the meeting could be heard calling Cain a “monster” for suggesting people need to be citizens to be given shelter.
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