Norfolk, MA Bay State Correctional Center to serve as new emergency shelter site NBC Boston [Video]

A new emergency shelter at a former prison in Norfolk, Massachusetts, is now open to more than two dozen families.

The first 20 to 25 families, many of them migrants, moved into the shelter at the decommissioned Bay State Correctional Center Wednesday afternoon, Norfolk Select Board Chairman Jim Lehan told NBC10 Boston.

The facility will house up to 140 families, or 450 people in total, who qualify for emergency assistance.

The decision sparked controversy in Norfolk, with protesters holding signs objecting to the move Wednesday.