Temporary shelter for asylum seekers closes in Maine’s largest city

PORTLAND, Maine — Almost 200 asylum seekers from African international locations have traded one momentary house in Maine’s largest metropolis for an additional Wednesday after a basketball area that served as a shelter closed.

About 10 buses and vans lined up exterior the Portland Expo to take 191 occupants and their belongings to motels in Lewiston and Freeport. Each cities are north of Portland.

One of many newcomers blew kisses to onlookers in a present of appreciation for the town, which arrange the emergency shelter in April after a flood of individuals arrived — greater than 1,600, largely from Angola and Congo, for the reason that begin of the 12 months.

Communities across the nation have been coping with rising numbers of asylum seekers, and have braced for extra because the Biden administration sought to place in place new restrictions after the lifting of pandemic restrictions on asylum.

In Portland, the arrival of newcomers strained metropolis companies and coincided with the top of pandemic funding in Could, which had allowed many unhoused folks to remain in motels. Since then, homeless tent cities have begun rising across the metropolis.

“Our workers have been fully at capability when it comes to who they’re in a position to shelter and help,” metropolis spokesperson Jessica Grondin stated.

Grondin stated she hopes asylum seekers received’t need to be housed in motels for too lengthy as slots open up within the metropolis’s household shelter. The motel prices are anticipated to be about $500,000, on high of about $540,000 spent for momentary housing on the area. However the metropolis received’t have to choose up the whole tab for these prices for the reason that state will contribute, she stated.

Asylum seekers first started arriving in giant numbers in 2019, many arriving with harrowing tales of their escape from violence and poverty of their homelands.