What's the story behind the migrants in Gardner - here's what Chief McAvene says
The topic of immigrants being housed in the city was discussed Wednesday night during a public meeting between residents and officials from the Gardner Police Department.
According to Mayor Michael Nicholson, who was in attendance, there were currently 45 families being sheltered by the state at the Super 8 Motel, with eight families at the Colonial Hotel. The majority of the families were from Haiti, Nicholson explained, and 20 immigrant children were currently enrolled in the Gardner public school system.
In response to a question about whether there had been an uptick in arrests at the Super 8 Motel since the arrival of the immigrants, Chief of Police Eric McAvene said that there was no truth to the rumors on social media.
“The information that’s coming out - if people are saying that they’re being arrested over there - is unequivocally false,” McAvene said. “The only calls we’ve gone over there for are usually medically related. That’s it.”
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Number of police-related calls at motel has dropped
In fact, added Lt. John Czasnowski, the number of calls to the department from the Super 8 since the immigrant families moved in had plummeted.
“We have less calls at the Super 8 now than we did before,” Czasnowski said. “They’re families that can’t communicate very well, and they’re trying to do family things. They just seem like they’re here trying to better themselves.”
McAvene said the immigrants currently being sheltered in Gardner had been vetted by the federal government, which was attempting to expedite the work visa process so that the adults could enter the local workforce.
“As you’ve seen, we have an abundance of jobs that are unfilled, (and) if we could get these folks vetted so they can start working and contributing to the community, I think that that’s kind of what we’re about.”
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Nicholson said immigrants in the city had been vetted by the federal government and given refugee status.
“So, these aren’t people who are coming here illegally, and they’re not undocumented, and the issue that we’re seeing here is they don’t have work permits,” he explained, adding that the Super 8 and Colonial Hotel had entered into a contract with the state to provide temporary housing for the families. “We have no say over who gets sheltered where in the city.”
Officials: false rumors spreading online
Nicholson attributed some of the false rumors that had been spreading about the immigrant families to certain online social media sites that cover current events in the city.
“It’s a mix of people who are spreading this misinformation and also people who think they are trying to help but only getting half the story and posting that half on Facebook, (which) is stirring the people who are mixing the pot even more,” he said.
More: Local group aims to welcome displaced families to Gardner
Several residents told officials they were relieved to have received the information about the immigrant situation during the meeting.
Gov. Maura Healey recently said the state’s emergency shelter system would be at capacity at the end of October, when roughly 24,000 people would be housed in temporary housing.
This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Migrants housed at Gardner motels discussed at police public meeting
