Migrant influx pushing Mass. shelter costs past $1B in FY25: report
Gov. Maura Healey's administration has already spent $830 million so far in FY25 – which started on July 1 – accommodating more than 4,000 families who have been receiving taxpayer-funded shelter, food, education, legal aid and case management.
The costs work out at about $3,496 per week per family, or around $1,000 per person per week for the program, known as the Emergency Assistance (EA) system.
The report, a June 16 biweekly update from the Massachusetts Executive Office for Housing and Livable Communities, notes that $679.6 million was spent on direct shelter costs and another $149.7 million on wraparound services, including education aid, work programs, National Guard payroll for security and rental assistance to help individuals exit the system.
Around 1,600 of the total 4,088 families currently in the system are migrants, per the report, although that figure is likely much higher as many migrant families are counted as "Massachusetts residents" for the purpose of eligibility.
The state was overwhelmed by an influx of migrants under the Biden administration and struggled to accommodate them. Many migrants ended up sleeping at Logan Airport as the Healey administration worked to set up temporary shelters, many of which are at hotels.
There are currently 599 hotel rooms being used under the program and the report states that all hotels being used under the program will be shuttered this year.
Already, the number of hotels being used as shelters has dropped to 28, down from a peak of more than 100, according to the report.
"The administration is on track to reduce [the] caseload to 4,000 families and close all hotel shelters by the end of the calendar year," the report states. It follows Healey, a Democrat, saying last month too that all hotel shelters would be shuttered by the end of the year. She said the number of people in the EA system had dipped below 5,000 last month, as well.
"Closing hotel shelters is essential to making sure that families are set up for success and to save our state hundreds of millions of dollars a year," said Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said last month.
The report comes as the influx of new migrants has all but ended given border crossings are at historic lows.
On Tuesday, Trump administration border czar Tom Homan said Border Patrol encountered just 95 illegal immigrants in a single day and that zero migrants were released into the U.S. last month.
Mike Kennealy, a Republican running for governor who previously served as housing and economic development secretary, blasted the report.
He said that taxpayers are "being forced to bankroll billions to an unaccountable, broken system that perpetuates the migrant crisis—and we're fed up," per the Boston Herald.
Fox News reached out to Healey's office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
"While families are struggling to afford everyday necessities, the state is shelling out $15,166 per family per month. It's not just insane — it's offensive."
The report also notes that 1,599 individuals in the EA system are currently employed, and 2,270 migrants have received work authorizations.
With the fiscal year ending June 30, Massachusetts is likely to exceed $1.06 billion, the report forecasts.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wall Street Journal
8 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Don't Bomb Mexico, Mr. President
The State Department designated eight organized-crime syndicates based in Latin America as 'foreign terrorist organizations,' or FTOs, in February. In July it added a ninth. Last week the New York Times reported that President Trump has signed a secret 'directive' to the Pentagon to 'begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels.' The White House declined to tell me if the Times story is true. But on Thursday Reuters reported that the U.S. deployment of air and naval resources to the Caribbean to combat cartels had begun. Whether their mission is interdiction or something more invasive remains unclear.
The Hill
9 minutes ago
- The Hill
Kids need care, not cages: Investment, not incarceration, reduces crime
When I was a teenager caught up in the juvenile justice system, I learned something President Trump refuses to acknowledge: the system fails most kids it touches, and treating children like enemies of the state makes communities less safe. This week, Trump announced plans to deploy 800 National Guard troops to Washington D.C., threatening that cities like Oakland and Baltimore could be next. Simultaneously, he's demanding that D.C. prosecute kids as young as 14 as adults. It's the same failed playbook — respond to complex social problems with more police, more cages for children, and now, soldiers on American streets. What makes this particularly absurd is that crime is actually falling in the cities he's threatening. Baltimore is experiencing one of its lowest homicide rates in decades, down 23 percent from last year alone. My hometown of Oakland has seen similar progress through community investment, not militarization. Trump's rhetoric diverges sharply from what actually transforms young lives. For instance, my co-worker J. Vasquez was sentenced to 31 years-to-life in adult prison when he was 16 — exactly the kind of punishment the president is championing. The system wrote Vasquez off completely. Despite every obstacle the adult prison system threw at him, Vasquez earned six associate degrees with honors and co-founded mentoring programs for other incarcerated young people. Today, Vasquez is the policy and legal services manager at Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice in Oakland, where I work. He graduated summa cum laude from San Francisco State University. But Vasquez's transformation happened in spite of being tried as an adult, not because of it. Vasquez's story reflects what we see across our programs. We work with more than 100 young people each year — kids the system has given up on. Yet 94 percent of our participants report increased belonging and emotional wellness, while 100 percent develop new skills. Compare that to California's juvenile halls, which cost taxpayers an average of more than $300,000 per youth per year to incarcerate, yet sees very high recidivism rates. We're literally spending more than a quarter-million dollars per child to make them more likely to commit future crimes. The data is overwhelming. In Oakland — one of the cities Trump has threatened with National Guard deployment — Community Works West found that youth in their restorative justice program had just a 13 percent recidivism rate over two years, at one-fifth the cost of traditional prosecution. Research consistently shows that youth processed in adult systems have higher recidivism rates than those in age-appropriate programs. Baltimore, another city in Trump's sights, offers an even starker example. Under Mayor Brandon Scott's leadership, the city is experiencing its lowest homicide rate on record through 42 summer youth camps, extended recreation center hours, and violence interruption programs that employ former offenders to mediate conflicts. Not through National Guard troops or adult prosecutions of children, but through investment in young people. Treating kids like kids. The choice isn't complicated. We can follow Trump's path toward militarization and mass incarceration of children — creating more victims while wasting taxpayer dollars. Or we can follow the lead of cities like Baltimore and Oakland, investing in programs that actually work. Crime rates are dropping across the country, including in D.C. where crime fell 35 percent in 2024. The last thing we need is a return to failed 'tough on crime' policies that destroyed generations of young lives while making communities less safe. I know what it's like to be written off by a system that sees only your worst moment. Kids need care, not cages. They need mentors who understand their struggles, communities that see their potential, and leaders who believe in second chances. Trump has a documented history of rushing to judgment on young people of color — he once called for the execution of five Black and Latino teenagers in the Central Park Five case, who were later exonerated by DNA evidence. We cannot let him repeat those mistakes on a national scale. .
Fox News
10 minutes ago
- Fox News
Rich Lowry cites Trump's ‘unconventional approach' to diplomacy after summit with Putin
The 'MediaBuzz' panel discusses President Donald Trump's defense of his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
