First Fox: The impact of the surge in immigration at one sanctuary urban airport is revealed in new information provided to a Senate committee examining the handling of the Biden-era immigration crisis.
Sen. R-Texas, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Sen. Ted Cruz, recently summoned the Massachusetts Port Authority, a document that required Republicans on the committee to use the facility to evacuate immigrants at Boston Logan International Airport.
Immigrants were watching them camp at an airport at the height of the Biden era as migrants descended into sanctuary cities like Boston.
Ted Cruz slaps blue state authority with a summons to evacuate immigrants at the airport: “reckless”
Senator Ted Cruz (Eric Lee/Bloomberg by Getty Images)
“Donald Trump has stopped Biden’s open border policy, but a full investigation into the scandal is essential to prevent future reemergence and to be accountable to be part of Biden’s lawless immigration order,” Cruz told Fox News Digital last month.
In response to the committee by Massport, obtained by Fox News Digital, the Port Authority estimated that over 5,000 migrants had arrived in Logan between July 2023 and July 2024.
“…Massport estimates that 5,500 migrants have jumped into Logan Airport during the period and have taken steps to accommodate the unprecedented arrival of immigrants to the airport,” the agency said in response to a question.
Senate Commercial Republicans expand investigation to airports in “sanctuary” jurisdictions that evacuate immigrants
At its peak, 352 immigrants were staying at Logan Airport, located in the 4,100-foot area of Terminal E. Authorities said immigrants were taken to the state centre each morning, but some returned to stay there.
Regarding the cost of accommodation, the agency estimated that the daily cost was $2,520 and the total cost was around $779,000 for additional staffing, services and transportation. Between July and November 2023, the average number of overnight immigrants stayed was below 100, but in the next few months, the daily average was April (181), May (265), and June (262).
Authorities said they did not reduce the airport’s capacity and “all measures were taken in accordance with federal and state laws to make travel publicly available to airport operations that are safe, safe, efficient and orderly.”
The immigrants sleep on the floor at Logan Airport. (David L. Ryan/Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Authorities also said no fees were handed over to taxpayers. Instead, the majority of the costs were absorbed into massports, with an additional $332,000 being taken over by the carrier, and “no airport facilities were transformed into immigrant housing.”
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They further stated that there have been “sometimes minor conflicts” from immigrants, but none require arrests or criminal charges.
Ultimately, immigrants were banned from using the airport as a shelter and instead were provided with taxpayer-funded accommodation in July 2024.
“As of July 9, 2024, there were policy changes announced by the state that immigrant families could no longer stay in Logan overnight and none of them had stayed at the airport since then,” a Massport spokesperson said. “We work closely with the committee and voluntarily fully cooperate with their requests.”
Lawmakers first requested information from Masport last year, but argued that the use of facilities to house immigrants violated the terms of federal funding.
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The new push comes amid a wider push by the Trump administration to crack down on arrivals at the Southern border. The number of immigrants at the border plunged last summer, continuing to fall under the new administration.
Adam Shaw is a political reporter for Fox News Digital, covering mainly immigration and border security.
He can be contacted at adam.shaw2@fox.com or on Twitter.
