Migrant shelter costs are expected to exceed $1 billion in a few years.
The Center for Immigration Studies reported that the number of "illegal and inadmissible" migrants living in Massachusetts is about 355,000, including 50,000 new arrivals since 2021. It also revealed that 10,000 migrants are minors, with 8,500 being unaccompanied – putting a strain on the state's infrastructure, resources and budget.
While state leaders headed by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey have long embraced sanctuary policies that guarantee access to housing, welfare programs, health coverage and other benefits regardless of immigration status, some are now raising concerns about the cost to taxpayers.
Officials with the Healey administration said Massachusetts taxpayers will most likely need to shell out more than $1 billion in fiscal years 2026 and 2027 if the number of people seeking state-funded shelter services does not subside. They disclosed this estimate in a presentation to a state commission this month.
Sen. Ryan Fattman, a Sutton Republican who sits on the commission, said Massachusetts lawmakers and the commission should consider making permanent changes to the shelter system to keep it viable for residents.
"We can't be seen as a state where, whether you're from South Dakota or South America or anywhere in between, you just get to come and we're going to take care of you," he told the Herald in an interview. "A society can't work that way. There has to be rules of the road and we've had very few in this program, which has become an albatross financially."
Rep. Paul Frost, an Auburn Republican who is also part of the commission, said he was not surprised to learn that costs are expected to exceed $1 billion this fiscal year.
"It's not shocking. I mean, when they wouldn't address the issue of the influx into the system from out-of-state applicants back in the fall, you have to expect this was going to happen," he said.
Massachusetts now prioritizing homeless locals
State officials are also now prioritizing Massachusetts families who are homeless because of a no-fault eviction or because of a "sudden or unusual circumstances" beyond their control like a flood or fire, or if they have at least one family member who is a veteran. (Related: Liberal sanctuary state Massachusetts tells illegals to GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.)
The projections for fiscal year 2025 were revised in mid-July based on the assumption that the shelter system will remain at its 7,500-family cap moving forward, four overflow shelters stay open; and the same supports from FY24 continue.
A spokesperson for budget-writing office said the Healey administration "has been clear that the current size of the emergency assistance shelter system is unsustainable – both in terms of physical space and financially."
Healey's administration anticipates spending another $76 million on overflow shelters; $48 million on school and municipal supports; $44 million on intake and clinical assessment sites; and $25 million on work authorization and workforce initiatives.
"Our proposal to use pandemic-era funding to cover the remaining FY25 costs is a responsible strategy to address the needs of the system without impacting other critical programs," said the spokesperson for Healey's budget-writing office.
Families with children and pregnant women, including migrants, can only stay at overflow shelters for five days before they are kicked out and must wait six months before accessing the larger system.
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