After months of waiting, Haitian migrants in Greenfield start getting work permits, UMass jobs

Many newcomers from countries like Haiti and Venezuela in Western Massachusetts have waited anxiously for months for federal work permits.

Some Haitians living in Greenfield have finally received their documents and are now finding work.

A few work at UMass Amherst, like Matthew, who is a new dishwasher for the university’s main dining hall.

“We are very happy that we have an income,” Matthew said in Haitian Creole. “We stayed for so long without any income or ability to do so. But now we can pay our bills and help our families at home.”

In this story we use only the first names of the migrants because they do not want to endanger the safety of their relatives in Haiti.

Matthew got this job through Pamela Adams, director of bakery operations at UMass Amherst. Adams is fluent in Haitian Creole after growing up in southern Haiti and has been volunteering at the state emergency shelter in Greenfield since 2021.

There, Adams met Matthew and presented him with a list of open positions at UMass.

“I know people are getting a little bitter about immigrants coming in and taking our jobs, (but) I can’t tell you how many years we’ve been posting job openings here at UMass. And I’ve found a workforce that wants to work and they’re beating down the door,” Adams said.

Matthew works with his wife, who cleans the dining rooms. She said most of her money goes to her family in Haiti.

Emma said she has her four children with her, but the rest of her family – her mother and siblings – are back home. She said her brother had been kidnapped and she could send money to his kidnappers.

He is now free.

Adams knew how important this money would be to Matthew and Emma – not only to help their families in Haiti, but also to further their lives in western Massachusetts.

So she contacted Senator Jo Comerford (D-Northampton) and asked if she could help speed up the hiring process at UMass.

“What I did was, (I) was in direct communication with UMass – the chancellor’s office – to inform the chancellor of the migrants and refugees that were in western Massachusetts and underlined my great hope that UMass would be able to act as a rapid employer of these individuals,” Comerford said.

They were able to get started within a week and a half.

As Elizabeth Sweet of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition notes, these new workers could alleviate some of the state’s current labor shortages.

“People come here who want to work and contribute,” Sweet said. “And it feels like a really important opportunity to keep our state’s economy strong.”

Before they could even apply, it took just over three months for Matthew and Emma to receive their federal work permits. That is a lot faster than the process earlier last year.

But Sweet said this still remains a challenge for many migrants.

“It still takes time for them to get connected to legal services and then get those applications processed by the federal government and actually get their work permits,” Sweet said. “So there are often delays at that stage.”

State shelters and overflow shelters are currently at full capacity. The state said it needs these residents to get jobs and find housing elsewhere.

Officials in Gov. Maura Healey’s administration said this is a top priority. Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Lauren Jones said MassHire workers have been visiting shelters to connect more migrants with jobs.

“Job fairs and connecting more individuals…to career coaching,” Jones said. “We also ensure that individuals living in shelters and looking for work also have training opportunities, especially ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) training.”

According to Adams, language training is crucial. The university is offering English classes as part of their new hire training for non-English speakers.

“The Haitians I’ve worked with – I tell them it’s very important that you learn the English language. That’s how you’re going to be successful,” Adams said.

Nirvani Williams

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Matthew and Emma have worked hard to learn English.

Right now, Emma said learning English is her top priority. Ultimately, she wants to get her diploma. But before she can do that, she said, she must raise and help her children.

Emma cried a lot and suffered from depression. But finding a job and leaving the shelter every day has been wonderful, she said.

“It feels like liberation,” she says.

Matthew and Emma are still at the shelter, but will soon have to look for housing due to a new law the Healey government passed this year that limits how long families can stay in the emergency shelter system.

Matthew said he feels like they have enough money to move. He said he is discussing options with his social worker about leaving the shelter at the end of June.

Matthew will work full-time at UMass this summer. He said this will have to be the money that will keep them going – until Emma resumes her seasonal role in the fall.

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