After months of sanctuary policies welcoming illegal immigrants to the Bay State, the consequences are forcing Democratic Gov. Maura Healey to reverse course. It’s a cautionary tale for New Hampshire, Republicans say.
As of August 1, Healey’s administration is ending its policy of prioritizing housing for illegal aliens over others — including homeless veterans — and will “prioritize families or placement in EA [emergency assistance] shelters if they are homeless because of a no-fault eviction or because of sudden or unusual circumstances in Massachusetts beyond their control, such as a flood or fire, or if they have at least one member who is a veteran.” That’s according to a statement released by Healey last week.
“Families who are not prioritized for placement in EA shelters will be eligible to stay at a ‘temporary respite center’ for up to five days.”
Healey’s carefully-worded statement represents a drastic reversal of Massachusetts’ “right-to-shelter” policy she has long touted. That policy has driven the cost of running the state’s emergency shelter system above $1 billion.
At a State House protest on Monday, illegal immigration advocates denounced Healey’s decision, calling the new policy “inhumane.”
The left wing Massachusetts activist organization Vida Urbana slammed the new policy for “disproportionately impacting immigrant families, both new arrivals and long-term Massachusetts residents and further criminalizing homelessness-unhoused and immigrant communities.”
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) joined protesters in opposing the new five-day limit and suggested the state should continue to finance the $1 billion-plus annual cost through supplemental budgets.
Across the aisle, the Massachusetts Republican Party is chastising Healey and other Beacon Hill Democrats for rejecting that same emergency shelter reform in May.
“Just in time for the election the Healey administration is making changes to the emergency assistance shelter system that Republican leaders have been advocating for over the past year and a half,” the Massachusetts Republican Party stated in a press release issued after Healey’s announcement.
MassGOP Chairwoman Amy Carnevale said the Democrats’ “sudden shift now exposes a clear hypocrisy in their stance, preferring to play politics, rather than making the tough decisions for the betterment of the commonwealth.”
State Sen. Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton) said the ballooning costs associated with housing illegal migrants “could sink the commonwealth financially.”
“We’re going to have to start pulling money from other line items like education, public safety, roads, bridges, and social services,” Fattman added. That’s when the taxpayers in Massachusetts will truly understand the cost of this.”
“It’s a billion dollars next year, and it’s a billion dollars after that, and there’s no end in sight.”
Healey has endorsed former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig in the New Hampshire Democratic gubernatorial primary. Craig supports sanctuary city policies. Her leading opponent, Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, has said she would not support New Hampshire becoming a sanctuary state for illegal migrants, but she opposes a state law banning local communities from embracing sanctuary policies.
Both GOP gubernatorial candidates Kelly Ayotte and Chuck Morse are staunch opponents of illegal immigration and have made border security priorities in their campaigns.
Jessica Vaughan, policy studies director at the illegal immigration watchdog Center for Immigration Studies, called Massachusetts a “case study in mass immigration and the welfare state.”
She pointed to a new CIS report that shows a link between Massachusetts sanctuary policies and the Biden administration’s immigration “parole” programs as the reason why the Bay State has emerged as a magnet for illegal immigration over the last four years.
“These effects are exacerbated by state and local policy choices to implement sanctuary policies and to guarantee access to housing, welfare programs, health coverage, and other benefits regardless of immigration status,” Vaughan said in a statement.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, has previously declared her support for decriminalizing illegal border crossings and providing free, taxpayer-funded health to illegal aliens.
“She is an extremist on border security and immigration enforcement, as her record as a senator, presidential candidate, and vice president makes abundantly clear,” U.S. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) said. “In March 2021, President Biden told the country that Vice President Harris was ‘the most qualified person to…lead our efforts’ in stemming the flood of illegal aliens across our Southwest border.
“No rational person could look at the years since, and conclude anything except that she was utterly unqualified, and has completely failed.”
Meanwhile, Vaughan and other border security advocates continue to sound the alarm regarding what’s expected to happen in Massachusetts, and what could be in store for other states like New Hampshire should Harris succeed Biden.
“The costs are already massive, and will get worse as many of the migrants admitted by Biden become qualified for certain benefits starting in 2026,” she said. “States can’t control what the federal government does, but they can use their own authorities to limit the burden on taxpayers.”
