Illustration of a columned civic building with a warmly lit doorway in autumn, representing the Boston City Council's Haitian TPS shelter resolution.

Boston City Council Backs Haitian TPS Shelter Resolution

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The Boston City Council voted 12-0 on Wednesday, Oct. 7, for a Haitian TPS shelter resolution urging the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to identify public buildings that could serve as temporary emergency shelter for Haitian residents who lost Temporary Protected Status this summer, according to the Boston Herald and Universal Hub.

What the Resolution Asks For

The resolution was offered by District 7 Councilor Miniard Culpepper and co-sponsored by at-large Councilors Ruthzee Louijeune and Henry Santana. It asks the city and state to “immediately identify and make available” city- and state-owned buildings or other public facilities that can be “safely and lawfully used” as temporary emergency shelter, according to the resolution text posted by Universal Hub.

The text also urges officials to let affected residents use shelter regardless of current immigration status, keep families together, favor non-congregate settings where practicable, and publish an action plan listing available facilities, shelter capacity, funding sources, responsible agencies and a timeline. It says any building used would have to meet fire, building, health, sanitation and accessibility rules.

Council resolutions state the body’s position and are not binding on the mayor or the state. The measure followed a Sept. 25 hearing of the council’s Committee on Civil Rights, Racial Equity, and Immigrant Advancement on the city’s response to the end of TPS for Haitians, according to the resolution.

Background: The End of Haitian TPS

The Department of Homeland Security announced in November 2025 that it would end TPS for Haiti, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2026 in favor of ending it, the Herald reported. The protections expired on July 27. The resolution says more than 300,000 people lost status nationwide, including about 45,000 in Massachusetts. TPS for Haiti was first designated in January 2010 after that year’s earthquake and was extended several times, the Herald reported.

What Councilors Said

“Our response cannot stop at legal assistance and employment support,” Culpepper said, according to the Herald. “We also have to address the immediate humanitarian needs of residents, who may also lose their housing and have nowhere safe to go.”

Louijeune, the first Haitian-American elected to the council, said she had responded to what she called a “crisis situation” at Logan Airport the night before the vote. “People are in crisis and they need our help,” she said, as reported by the Herald and Universal Hub. Santana said, “We cannot control federal policy, but we can control what we do within our own resources.” At-large Councilor Julia Mejia said she would push for related funding during the next city budget cycle.

Cost and Budget Questions

Councilors did not give a cost estimate for the proposal, the Herald reported. The Herald also noted that the city drew on its emergency reserve fund to cover a $70 million shortfall in the fiscal year that ended June 30, and that the state spent $978 million on its emergency family shelter program in fiscal 2025. Hoodline noted that the state shelter system already operates under caps and length-of-stay limits set in 2023 and 2024.

Critics of the measure, including Mass Daily News, objected to directing public resources to people who no longer hold legal immigration status. Supporters on the council said the city has a responsibility to residents facing homelessness as winter approaches. The news reports reviewed for this article did not include a response from Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration or from Gov. Maura Healey’s administration.

For more on recent council business, see our reports on the council’s Question 4 resolution, the city’s Immigrants Lead Boston program, and the Allston post office dispute.

Sources