Across the U.S., growing numbers of migrants are testing American institutions and ideals. In Massachusetts, the only state with a right-to-shelter law, Haitian families seeking refuge are stretching the social safety net beyond its limits.
The challenge of supporting these migrants has public officials and community leaders questioning how the United States can live up to one of its core principles: welcoming new arrivals.
WBUR, Boston’s NPR news station, will embed in a 45-family hotel-turned-shelter in the Boston area. The resulting multiplatform enterprise reporting project will take audiences to a place they could not ordinarily access (yet their taxes support) to experience life in the shelter. The story will focus on one or two families, and shelter staff. A second phase of this project will follow one family over six months as they navigate their new life, including the pursuit of a work permit, asylum, and a permanent home.
Reporting on migrants has a tendency to treat the group as an undifferentiated mass. This project will provide immigrants’ perspectives in greater detail, capturing the rhythms and frustrations of family life inside a shelter, the motivations and strategies that keep families going during their years-long journeys, and the nuances of the state’s unique system. The project will also hold leaders accountable for their promises to provide shelter and services.
