Massachusetts: A Case Study in Mass Immigration and the Welfare State
By Jessica M. Vaughan on July 25, 2024
More than six million new migrants have arrived in the country since January 2021 outside of established lawful immigration programs, including illegal border crossers allowed to enter after apprehension, inadmissible aliens allowed to fly from abroad under controversial parole programs, and illegal aliens who evaded detection (the so-called “gotaways”). Together with New York, Texas, Florida, California, and Illinois, Massachusetts has emerged as one of the top destinations for illegal immigrants in recent years, according to government records on immigration court filings and academic research. As in other destination states, this influx presents a serious challenge to Massachusetts. While many lawmakers, including the state's current governor, 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. This report examines the fiscal impacts of historic levels of unlawful immigration in Massachusetts as one example of a sanctuary state, and recommends ways to mitigate the cost to taxpayers by reversing many of those policies before even more substantial costs begin to accrue in the coming years.
The cost to Massachusetts taxpayers of temporary housing and shelters is enormous, but it pales in comparison to the costs that will accumulate in the future if those in the temporary shelters today remain in the Commonwealth for the long term.
Taxpayers in Massachusetts have spent more than $1 billion to date on the emergency shelter system that has been overwhelmed with the task of housing thousands of newly arrived migrants, some who entered illegally and some who arrived under one of the Biden administration’s controversial parole programs. State budget officials expect they will have to spend another $1.8 trillion in the next two years.
It’s not clear where the funding to cover the shelter and other costs will come from, but Healey frequently expresses her strong hope that the federal government will soon help replenish the state coffers with funds recently appropriated by Congress for the federal emergency shelter program run by FEMA.
https://cis.org/Report/Massachusetts-Case-Study-Mass-Immigration-and-Welfare-State
