Gov. Healey assures veterans will have hotel rooms for Army-Navy game at Gillette Stadium
FOXBORO - Some veterans are scrambling to find a place to stay for December's Army-Navy game at Gillette Stadium. They had hotel rooms booked, but the migrant crisis is complicating things.
Governor Maura Healey says her office is making progress in finding new hotel rooms for those impacted. Healey says hotels in the Foxboro area were double booked. "I was troubled to hear that there may have been folks moved from hotels. That was a decision made by hotels," Healey said.
A decision to take in asylum-seeking migrants, leaving at least 70 veterans without a place to stay ahead of one of the most anticipated games in college football.
"I've never had a hotel take rooms back and give me nothing," said Mark Mansbach, a travel agent from New Jersey.
He helped veterans book hotels for the Army-Navy game. He's scrambling to find new rooms for his clients. "They sent out cancellations and walked away," Mansbach said.
On Thursday, Governor Healey assured veterans they will have accommodations.
"I'll tell you what we did as a state. Our secretary of veterans' affairs has been in touch with the hotels and we're going to make sure that everyone is housed, and everybody has a place to stay, including anybody who had booked and had their rooms changed," Healey said. "I think we're in good shape there."
The Healey administration estimates the state is helping roughly 6,500 migrant families under the state's right to shelter law. A tough task that Healey called in the National Guard to help with.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is petitioning a judge to temporarily lift the city's right to shelter mandate, arguing they don't have enough resources for the influx of migrants there. "Coming to New York doesn't mean you're going to stay in a five-star hotel," Adams said.
"What we need to do is we need help from the Biden administration. We need work permits, we need expedited work permits. We also need federal funding," Healey said.
In the meantime, Mansbach hopes he can salvage the trip for his clients. "Some people just decided not to go," he said.
