Massachusetts Weighs Tougher Shelter Rules as Trump Looms

(Bloomberg) -- Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey pledged to work with the state’s legislature to reform an overloaded emergency shelter system that’s costing about $1 billion a year.

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The massive influx of people seeking shelter in Massachusetts is “due to a failure of federal border control and a nationwide housing crisis,” Healey said Thursday evening in her annual State of the Commonwealth address. “I want to be absolutely clear: we’re dramatically reducing costs. We have — and we will — prioritize Massachusetts families.”

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The pledge builds on a proposal unveiled by Healey earlier this week to tighten access to Massachusetts shelters by requiring individuals to prove residency or provide documents showing an intent to remain in the state. Her plan would also eliminate presumed eligibility for shelter services.

The changes would mark a dramatic overhaul of Massachusetts’ right-to-shelter law, the only one of its kind in the US and a policy dating back more than four decades.

States across the US have seen a surge of migrants over the past several years, with some arriving by bus under a Texas program targeting liberal cities to protest federal immigration policies. The arrivals have strained resources and overwhelmed the shelter system.

Healey’s call for reform comes days before President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office on Jan. 20 with a pledge to launch mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. The budget impact from overburdened shelter systems and signs that large swaths of voters backed Trump’s more aggressive approach has shifted the political calculus on immigration issues across the US.

Healey, who is set to face reelection in 2026, devoted most of her speech Thursday to celebrating the accomplishments of the first half of her current term, including landmark economic development and housing bills and improvements in the reliability of the public transit system.

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“We focused on the stuff that matters — the stuff that matters to most people,” Healey said, heralding the most recent legislative session as one of the most productive in Massachusetts history.

Healey had already announced a series of tweaks to shelter access meant to rein in a system that cost the state about $1 billion in fiscal 2024 and is expected to cost a similar amount in the current period. She has repeatedly said that undocumented immigrants who commit violent acts should be held accountable and deported, while arguing against broader round-ups that could ensnare families and long-term residents.

Her overhaul proposal also includes tougher criminal background checks for all applicants to Massachusetts’ emergency shelter system. The thoroughness of the state’s vetting process has been under scrutiny after an undocumented immigrant was arrested recently at a shelter in Revere on drug and weapons charges.

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