FIRST ON FOX: The impact of a migrant surge at one sanctuary city airport is being revealed in new information provided to a Senate committee investigating the handling of the Biden-era migrant crisis.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, recently subpoenaed the Massachusetts Port Authority for documents that Republicans on the committee had requested last year about the use of facilities to allow migrants to shelter at Boston Logan International Airport.
Migrants had been seen camping out at airports at the height of the Biden-era crisis as migrants descended on sanctuary cities like Boston.
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“Donald Trump put a stop to Biden’s open border policy, but a full investigation of this scandal is vital to both prevent its future reemergence and hold accountable those complicit in Biden’s lawless immigration orders,” Cruz told Fox News Digital last month.
In the responses to the committee by Massport, obtained by Fox News Digital, the port authority estimated that more than 5,000 migrants arrived at Logan between July 2023 and July 2024.
“… Massport estimates that 5,500 migrants flew into Logan Airport during the period resulting in actions taken to respond to the unprecedented arrival of migrants to the airport,” the agency said in response to questions.
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At the peak, there were 352 migrants staying at Logan Airport in a 4,100-foot area of Terminal E. The authority said migrants were taken to state centers every morning, although some returned and stayed there.
As for how much the stays cost, authorities estimated the cost per day 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 migrants staying overnight was less than 100, but in the following months the highest daily averages were in April (181), May (265) and June (262).
Officials said it did not reduce the capacity of the airport and that “all actions were taken in accordance with Federal and state law, to afford the traveling public with a safe, secure, efficient and orderly airport operation.”
The officials also said that no cost was passed on to the taxpayers. Instead, the majority of costs were absorbed by Massport, while $332,000 of additional costs were passed on to air carriers, and at “no point were airport facilities turned into housing for migrants.”
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They further noted there were “time-to-time minor conflicts” from migrants, but none requiring arrests or criminal charges.
Ultimately, migrants were barred from using the airport as a shelter and instead were offered taxpayer-funded accommodation in July 2024.
“As of July 9, 2024, there was a policy change announced by the state that migrant families could no longer stay overnight at Logan, and no families have stayed at the airport since then,” a Massport spokesperson said. “We are working closely with the Committee to voluntarily cooperate fully with their request.”
Lawmakers had initially requested information from Massport last year, arguing that the use of facilities to house migrants violated the conditions of federal funding.
The new push comes amid a broader push by the Trump administration to crack down on arrivals at the southern border. Numbers of migrants at the border plunged last summer and have continued to drop under the new administration.
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