The Boston City Council voted 12-0 on Wednesday to urge Mayor Michelle Wu and state officials to inventory publicly owned buildings and convert vacant or underused ones into temporary emergency shelter for Haitian nationals who lost Temporary Protected Status this summer and cannot cover their own housing.
The non-binding resolution, sponsored by Councilors Miniard Culpepper, Ruthzee Louijeune, and Henry Santana, asks the city and Commonwealth to identify facilities that meet fire, building, health, and accessibility standards.
TPS for Haiti, granted after the 2010 earthquake and repeatedly extended, was terminated by the Trump administration in November 2025; the Supreme Court cleared it in June 2026. Protections for roughly 45,000 Haitians in Massachusetts expired July 27; more than 300,000 lost status nationwide. Massachusetts has more than 75,000 residents of Haitian descent…