Gov. Maura Healey blinked.
She, like many governors trying to manage the unceasing influx of migrants across their state borders, ran into a harsh reality: there is a bottom to the well.
Healey announced Monday that the state’s shelter system will fill by the end of the month. After that the Bay State will not be able to provide housing for families in need as required by law.
As she and other governors have learned, there are limits to the number of unhoused people and families that shelters can hold, a limit to the hotels and motels that can put up the overflow, and an eventual limit to the money available to cover the mounting costs of these efforts.
As the Herald reported, the Massachusetts shelter system won’t be able to help any further without intervention by the Biden Administration.
Good luck with that. New York City Mayor Eric Adams called for Biden to give it a leg up as migrants overwhelmed that city’s shelters, and criticized the lack of substantive action.
The result is a cold shoulder from the White House, although Adams did have a recent sit down with former President Bill Clinton, who shared his insights.
Healey pled her case: “For months now, we have been expanding shelter capacity at an unsustainable rate to meet rising demand. Despite the heroic work of public officials, shelter providers and the National Guard, we have reached a point where we can no longer safely or responsibly expand.”
Adams took similar action, limiting adult migrants to just 30 days in city-run facilities, according to the Associated Press.
Healey stressed that Massachusetts isn’t ending its right to shelter law, but said that after the end of the month families in need of shelter may have to wait for space to free. When asked if this was a warning to migrants that Massachusetts is full, the governor said that, at the very least, shelter will not be provided to anyone who arrives.
However, just because we roll up the welcome mat, doesn’t mean migrants will stay away.
For one, Texas, which passed capacity long ago, announced late last month that it would continue busing migrants, The Hill reported.
“Texas border towns should not have to shoulder the burden of Biden’s open border policies,” Gov. Greg Abbott posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Texas will continue to send buses to sanctuary cities to provide relief to overrun border towns.”
Coupled with the ability to get a Massachusetts drivers license regardless of immigration status and Healey’s efforts to enable job training for migrants, and our state will continue to be a magnet.
We’re all border states now, and the realities of overcrowding and lack of shelter space are here to stay. Healey may rearrange the deck chairs and declare a waiting period for new arrivals, or issue statements that there simply isn’t room to spare, but as Texas learned, that won’t do much good.
Democratic governors can’t back Joe Biden and his porous border policies, especially now that they are facing the consequences. The challenge, and the task, is getting Biden to listen.
