Iván Espinoza-Madrigal

Marie-Louise stood in Boston’s Logan Airport, clutching her two young children. Behind them was a life shattered by violence in Haiti, forcing them to flee for safety. Now, they face an uncertain future with no place to go. Access to housing will determine their fate.

Policy decisions, such as determining who gets access to emergency shelters, are critical for people like Marie-Louise.

Across the country, we are at a crossroads. As the November election approaches, scaremongering drives policies that deepen the housing and migrant crises. Fear-based rhetoric produces short-sighted measures that leave families trapped in uncertainty.

The growing tension surrounding emergency shelter access is particularly important for families caught in the unfolding migrant crisis. Many cities and states have limited shelter access, leaving families without a safe place to stay. Without a stable address, migrant children also face challenges with school enrollment, made worse in some cases by outright bans on enrolling migrant students. Exclusion destabilizes already vulnerable families: without shelter, they are cut off from education and pushed deeper into the shadows. These obstacles change the course of a child’s life.

To be sure, support systems can make a difference. Consider the experience of Marcelino, a Venezuelan migrant who also recently arrived in Boston. Unlike Marie-Louise, Marcelino found shelter through a local support network that connected him to vital resources, including free legal assistance from Lawyers for Civil Rights to apply for employment authorization.

Housing stability enabled Marcelino to gain financial independence, plan for a secure future and contribute to his new community.

Marcelino’s and Marie-Louise’s stories underscore the role of policies in determining the course of migrants’ lives. Far too often, immigration status becomes yet another way to stratify people. Policies like ensuring access to emergency housing and facilitating school enrollment tend to make immigrants’ lives more stable. Conversely, limiting access to essential services traps people in a Sisyphean cycle of insecurity.

We have the power to create pathways toward either stability or instability.

Local and state governments must invest in shelter systems that provide life-changing support to families in crisis, including survivors of domestic violence. Expanding this safety net would ensure that no one in distress is left without a roof over their head. To complement this effort, free legal clinics should be organized to help low-income migrants apply for work permits. By increasing access to emergency shelters and legal services, we can create a structure and framework that empowers people to contribute to their new communities.

Our policy decisions can either foster community support or make people more vulnerable. We must choose to open doors, not close them. This is how we ensure safety and dignity for all.

Iván Espinoza-Madrigal is the Executive Director of Lawyers for Civil Rights. He has filed and won dozens of life-changing and law-changing cases across the country on a wide range of civil rights issues, including immigrants’ rights. This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, a project of The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.