Governor Maura Shealey of Massachusetts declared a state emergency in response to the illegal immigration crisis. Massachusetts is considered a sanctuary state since 2017 when a court ruled law enforcement officers were not allowed to arrest a suspect for being illegal unless there was a criminal charge.
Healy wrote to Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday, explaining that the decision was made due to the “rapid growth of pregnant women and families who are living in the state without being able to find safe housing in their communities.” Healy attributed the crisis to the “federal immigration policies and work authorizations” as well as the lack of affordable housing in the past decade and the ending of the COVID food and housing programs. She called it “urgent”.
Healy applauded 80 cities in the state for hosting illegals, and she mentioned 1,800 families who live in hotels. However, the state and local efforts were not enough. She called on the federal to “partner” and provide federal funding to Massachusetts. She also asked Congress to take executive action and remove barriers to work authorization and address “our outdated punitive immigration law.”
Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll said in part:
The Emergency Assistance program is intended to be a temporary safety net. Although we have tried to increase capacity as much as we could, the growth is no longer sustainable.
In other words, send us money.
She still won’t acknowledge the Democrats’ error.