(Robert Jonathan, Headline USA) Under the Biden administration’s wide-open-door policy when it comes illegal immigration, it’s been said that every U.S. state has become a border state.
Massachusetts is apparently no exception, despite leftists’ recent indignation over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shipping migrants to the elite enclave of Martha’s Vineyard.
“Oddly, however, almost all the ultra-affluent suburban communities most loudly committed to celebrating diversity have thus far been unable to provide suitable free housing for the new non-working classes,” observed the Boston Herald‘s Howie Carr in a July 12 column.
In the meantime, the state has spent millions in taxpayer funds on accommodations for migrants needing “emergency assistance shelter” at nearly 40 hotels and motels in the state.
To accommodate the influx of newcomers, the state’s far-left Gov. Maura Healey has instead proposed that residential-property owners turn their guestrooms into free, short-term versions of Airbnb for illegal aliens.
“Massachusetts officials are seeking residents willing to host newly arrived families in need of shelter,” reported Boston NPR affiliate WBUR of the one-way exchange program. “Hosts are asked to provide a room or apartment for a few days, until longer-term accommodations can be arranged.”
The influx of new, undocumented residents has taken a significant toll on the deep-blue state’s existing resources for addressing homelessness, the report explained.
“A significant portion of the families in need of housing in the state are new immigrants,” it said. “… The new host family strategy comes as the state scrambles to expand shelter capacity and provide for an increasing number of homeless families.”
Healey’s press secretary, Karissa Hand, insisted that the strategy was actually nothing new.
“This has previously been a practice among Resettlement Agencies and other volunteers who work to support new arrivals,” she said.
Despite the governor’s public endorsement, a Boston “family welcome center” is coordinating the private-placement initiative, which includes recruiting and vetting host families and connecting them with migrants.
WBUR’s coverage did not mention whether the migrants would be vetted before they were potentially placed in private homes.
Team Healey has been coy about the actual price tag for migrant services, the Boston Herald indicated.
Healey wasn’t paying any of the host families directly, but participants reportedly would be eligible for “gift cards, groceries and baby formula” on behalf of the hostees.
The Healy administration also announced recently that it was spending about $30 million to issue driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.
