migrants

Massachusetts received more than $20 million in federal funding to assist in managing its ongoing shelter crisis, the state announced on Aug. 28.

As a new state shelter policy that will limit longer-term access gears up, support providers for migrants in the state are grappling with increased need and growing panic from the communities they serve.

Starting Tuesday, July 9, migrant families who had been staying overnight in Terminal E of Boston Logan International Airport were no longer permitted to do so, Gov. Maura Healey announced at the end of June.

Since the beginning of the year, a large, open space on the ground floor of Boston Logan International Airport Terminal E has served as a shelter for migrant families with nowhere else to sleep.

Every year, Boston United Track & Cross Country Club, a nonprofit offering free track-and-field training, applies for a permit to use the state-run Melnea A. Cass Recreational Complex in Roxbury. So, when Sekou Dilday, a track coach and treasurer with the group, discovered that their permit had been abruptly cancelled, he was confused.

Whether we observe Christmas as a religious holiday or not, we would do well to remember during this holiday season that the Christmas story is a tale of migration and compassion.

Everyone should sympathize with migrants who have been unable to thrive in their countries of origin, but it is inadvisable to enable them to enter the U.S., where elderly citizens might be vulnerable to COVID.