Outrage as Massachusetts Dem’ governor closes cherished sports center in majority-black Boston suburb for FOUR MONTHS so it can be used to house migrants

• Governor Maura Healey gave less than 48-hours notice that the popular Roxbury rec center would be turned over to 125 migrants families
• ‘I don’t know what we’re going to do for a couple, three months,’ she told them
• But she was accused of treating the neighborhood ‘like garbage’ at an angry public meeting 

By Dominic Yeatman For Dailymail.Com

Published: 00:31 EST, 31 January 2024 | Updated: 09:09 EST, 31 January 2024

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A deprived Boston community has been left ‘on fire’ after the governor of Massachusetts requisitioned a vital rec center to house the surge of migrants arriving in the city.

Democrat Maura Healey was accused of treating the Roxbury neighborhood ‘like garbage’ after she locked residents out of the Melnea A. Cass Recreational Complex with less than 48 hours notice.

She insisted it was needed to house the new arrivals, dozens of whom have been sleeping rough in the city’s airport for months.

But residents in the majority-black neighborhood demanded she explain why their cherished facilities had been chosen to take the hit.

‘You’re really putting us in a bad, bad situation,’ resident Rodney Singleton told her at a public meeting, ‘and it’s not fair.’

Democrat governor Maura Healey blamed Congress and the White House for her decision to requisition the Melnea A. Cass Recreational Complex TRENDING US unleashes 30 minutes of hell on Syria and Iraq, killing 34 68.4k viewing now Texas truck convoy organizers shun protesters considered too extreme 8.3k viewing now Joe and Jill Biden visit Beau’s grave, open campaign headquarters 1.2k viewing now

The neglected facility will receive a makeover worth $500,000 to make it fit for the 125 families that are expected to move in State Senator Liz Miranda told the Boston Globe.

‘The outrage you’re seeing is valid. Roxbury has never gotten its fair share out of the city and the state,’ she added.

‘I’m hoping West Roxbury steps up, I’m hoping Wellesley steps up, other communities that have rich resources.’

Massachusetts’ shelters reached capacity in November, with 7,500 families in its system. Some are now being housed in hospital waiting rooms and church halls.

Migrants are expected to start moving in on Wednesday to the Roxbury site as it becomes the state’s fourth ‘safety-net site’ for those waiting for a place in Massachusetts’ emergency shelter system.

But it is also home to community sports groups providing a precious outlet for vulnerable youngsters.

‘It’s the long-term effect that we’re concerned about,’ said Domingos DaRosa of the Boston Bengals youth athletic organization.

‘Reengaging these kids might not be as easy as 1-2-3.’

Said Hassan Ahmed, of Boston United Track and Cross Country said the decision had left his program instantly ‘homeless‘.

The center in Roxbury is home to more than a dozen programs as well as community groups

‘We come in, and folks at the front desk were like, ‘Just to let you know, today’s your last day’, he said. ‘We were told that our permit was revoked and we were out.’

State officials have predicted the migrant crisis could cost Massachusetts $915 million this year and Healey has asked for an additional $250 million in Federal funds.

The state’s shelter system reached capacity in November as it fell victim to the flow of people at the southern border.

The scenes in Boston’s airport replicate those in Chicago‘s O’Hare where 216 migrants were sleeping at the start of January.

Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has since 2022 been sending busloads of migrants from his state north, to make Democrat mayors and governors share his struggle – and to put pressure on Joe Biden.

‘We need DC to act. We need Congress to act,’ Healey said at a press conference last week.

‘The path is there in terms of what needs to be done to fix the border situation, to fix some of the asylum processes and to get much needed funding to some of the interior states who have had to shoulder the burden for a problem that is geopolitical and is not the state’s making.’

Dozens of migrants have been sleeping rough at the city’s Boston Logan Airport 

Healey promised the rec center, which boasts a popular pool and a 24,000-square-foot indoor field house would reopen to the public by June.

‘The fact that they can’t tell us today that they have alternate sites for the programs they displaced is just despicable to me,’ said former state Senator Dianne Wilkerson said.

‘It’s inexplicable. It should not be acceptable on any level.’

‘I don’t know what we’re going to do for a couple, three months. I’ll call universities, I’ll call other places,’ Healey told residents at a community forum on Monday night.

‘Rich communities won’t get this,’ one resident told her, ‘It’s disrespectful.’

‘Roxbury is on fire! On fire! And this is a wake-up call,’ Derrick Evans, added.

‘So there’s no plan for the kids in Roxbury?’ another resident demanded.

‘The state is taking care of the migrants, so who’s taking care of the kids in Roxbury?