I read that Giri Hotels, which runs, among other things, the Comfort Inn in Foxboro Massachusetts, jerked longstanding hotel room reservations from under veterans who wanted to attend the Army-Navy game to make room for migrants.  A Giri spokesperson confirmed, “As a gesture of solidarity and humanitarian responsibility, we are opening our doors to those seeking refuge in our community.  We consider it a privilege to offer a safe haven to those who have been forced to flee their homes due to challenging circumstances, and our enthusiasm stems from our belief in the fundamental values of compassion and unity.”

The hotel added that it was trying to find other rooms for the people who actually reserved them, but there are questions as to whether this happened.  If we assume that all these migrants are genuine refugees, and as far as I know, only about 100,000 people (on average) of the millions who cross our borders every year apply for asylum, other shelter options were available.  Tents, supplies of food and potable water, cots, warm clothing, blankets, space heaters, and porta-johns come to mind.  Here, for example, is a shelter that can house 150 soldiers and can be erected in the space of a few hours.  December can start to get cold, but this shelter can be climate-controlled.  I am sure the Army Corps of Engineers can come up with other solutions to feed, house, and shelter thousands of people.

Governor Maura Healy made it clear that Giri Hotels Management was not somehow forced by the state to turn the rooms over to migrants at the expense of customers.  “I am very distressed to learn that any veteran may have been moved from a hotel, who had booked a hotel for that game.  As I understand it, those were decisions made by area hotels.”  As the state did not use eminent domain or some other kind of authority to compel the hotel chain to do this, the hotel chain is fully responsible.

The Boston Herald added, “‘We are delighted to confirm that we are indeed taking refugees at our hotels,’ said Claire Mulholland, VP of Marketing for Giri Hotel Management.”

As General Sir Charles Napier once said of the practice of suttee (widow-burning) in India, "You may follow your custom, and then we will follow ours," which was to hang those who burned the widows.  Giri Hotel Management may similarly practice its custom, which is apparently to cancel the reservations of paying guests to turn their rooms over to migrants, and intelligent business and leisure travelers may practice theirs, which is to never do business with a hotel chain that cannot be trusted to honor reservations.  Giri Hotels will get money from Massachusetts to house the migrants, but once they have gone elsewhere, the hotelier will deservedly face the prospect of empty rooms and silent reservation phones because potential customers will simply not trust it.

The Boston area may also lose a lot of conferences because those who host them don’t want blocks of hotel rooms jerked from under their attendees.  I am not sure why the Army-Navy Game is not at Annapolis or West Point, because this is how football games usually work, but the two service academies would be well within their rights to strike Boston from potential venues for the foreseeable future.  In fact, as the game is scheduled for December 6, there is still time to move it to Annapolis or West Point, assuming that large blocks of hotel rooms are expected to be available at that time.

Civis Americanus is the pen name of a contributor who remembers the lessons of history and wants to ensure that our country never needs to learn those lessons again the hard way.  The author is remaining anonymous due to the likely prospect of being subjected to cancel culture for exposing the Big Lie behind Black Lives Matter.

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