Republicans have formally requested information from the Massachusetts state government regarding $1 billion in expenditures on the migrant crisis. The Massachusetts Republican Party has called upon Governor Maura Healey’s administration to provide a comprehensive cost breakdown detailing the financial impact on state residents.
“The Healey-Driscoll Administration has shrouded nearly $1 billion spent in secrecy, leaving Massachusetts residents in the dark,” complains state party chairwoman Amy Carnevale. “They have withheld critical information on 600 incidents involving police, fire, and EMT. Blocking journalists at every turn, the administration has obstructed the flow of information to the public.”
Carnevale has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking detailed information on the allocation of funds for migrants. The request demands the names of government and private entities involved in providing housing, the specific locations of migrant housing, correspondences related to public safety issues, and relevant police or incident reports.
The request follows a report by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) highlighting the strain on state resources due to the increasing number of migrants. CIS projects costs potentially reaching $1.8 billion over the next two years, with the state already spending over $1 billion on its Emergency Assistance shelter program.
BURDENS.
In addition to the immediate costs of housing migrants, the CIS report identifies other financial burdens in terms of providing education, social services, healthcare, and public safety. The report estimates that around 355,000 migrants currently reside in Massachusetts.
Whistleblowers have previously revealed how migrants put up in Massachusetts hotels and motels receive “free diapers, wipes, toiletries, free tablets and phones, free English lessons, state caseworkers making sure all entitlements are taken, free Uber and Lyft rides, [and] free bus passes,” among other benefits.
“They all have MassHealth, free legal services, free tax-filing services,” the whistleblower said, adding that the hotel where they operated saw “daily” police and fire department callouts to deal “with fights, guns, drugs, [and] overdoses.”