While she is shutting down her sanctuary state’s migrant shelters, critics are accusing Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey of simply shifting the costs over to a program that makes migrants eligible to receive at least $30,000 in housing assistance over two years.

The Boston Herald reported in June that the Healey administration had increased spending in Massachusetts’ HomeBASE program to $97 million in 2025, up from $9.5 million in 2022, according to state data.

The outlet reported that eligible families in the Massachusetts-run shelter system were being provided with $30,000 in rental assistance over two years. According to the Herald, the total caseload for HomeBASE increased under Healey from 1,473 in January 2023 to 7,767 in April 2025, more than a 400 percent increase. The outlet also said that some eligible families could qualify for an additional $15,000 in a third year of assistance but that state officials planned to pause third year assistance in July. 

After that report, Massachusetts GOP Chair Amy Carnevale commented that the HomeBASE program amounted to being «shelters by another name.»

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«Taxpayers are giving migrant families nearly limitless free rental assistance. Meanwhile, federal action means these families won’t be receiving work permits anytime soon,» she went on, adding, «The migrant shelter crisis is not over, and cost-shifting is not leadership.»

This month, Healey announced the closure of all remaining hotel shelters in the Bay State amid the formal termination of her executive emergency focused on the state’s Biden-era migrant influx.

In a statement emailed to Fox News Digital, Carnevale said that «friends, favors, and failures continue to emerge even as she declares that the migrant crisis is over.»

«Healey should rip off the Band-Aid and tell the public whether these same oversights are occurring in the HomeBASE program,» she continued.

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A security guard patrols the emergency overflow shelter for migrants at the Melnea A. Cass Recreation Complex in Boston. (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

«The abuse of taxpayer dollars, coupled with a stunning lack of oversight by Maura Healey and her administration, will define her legacy as governor.»

Meanwhile, Jon Fetherston, a former Massachusetts migrant shelter director who blew the whistle about rampant crime and abuse taking place in the system, commented that «instead of creating stability, HomeBase has become a revolving door of short-term rental assistance.»

He said that because migrants often spend the bulk of their $30,000 on upfront costs, many become unable to sustain their housing within months.

«The Healey Administration’s expansion of the HomeBASE program was sold to the public as a solution, one that would save money, reduce shelter dependence, and help migrant families become self-sufficient. But the reality is far different,» he explained. «HomeBASE is now a bloated, mismanaged program that’s failing both the taxpayers who fund it and the migrants it claims to help.»

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Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Gov. Maura Healey tour a Boston facility housing over 300 migrant families. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

«HomeBASE, in its current form, is a broken promise,» he said. «Taxpayers are footing a nearly $100 million bill with little transparency, no measurable outcomes and no end in sight. The promise of savings from closing hotel shelters is being quietly replaced with backdoor spending that still lacks accountability.

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«This isn’t a hand-up; it’s a setup for failure.»

Fox News Digital reached out to Healey’s office for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication. 

Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.

Una enormee mancha de petróleo, en una manifestación de Greenpeace, en Ginebra. Foto: EFE

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Montañas de residuos plásticos, en Pakistán. Foto: AP

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Residuos plásticos en una playa en Panamá. Foto: EFE

As President Donald Trump and his Department of Homeland Security have ramped up enforcement of U.S. immigration law after the Biden-era deluge at the border, some Democrats have come under fire for their responses to the situation.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has held «Know Your Rights» webinars and disseminated guides to constituents concerned about ICE conducting operations in her Queens and Bronx district.

«ICE raids are political tactics, and they’re often intended to create fear,» one proctor in an Ocasio-Cortez webinar advised. «Do not open your door,» an Ocasio-Cortez-branded document read elsewhere – advising residents to demand to see ICE’s judicially signed warrants.

Such efforts by the «Squad» member drew the attention of Border Czar Thomas Homan, who told Fox News he had sent a letter to the Department of Justice questioning whether she may have broken the law.

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«At what level is that impediment [of federal law enforcement operations]?» Homan asked «Ingraham Angle» host Laura Ingraham.

«If so, what are we going to do about it? . . . Maybe AOC is going to be in trouble now.»

At the state government level, Arizona state Sen. Analise Ortiz came under fire for her response to ICE operations.

Ortiz, D-Phoenix, was accused of «doxxing» ICE by LibsOfTikTok commentator Chaya Raichik, after she reportedly posted live locations of federal agents on her Instagram page.

Ortiz defended her work, comparing it to how the automotive app WAZE alerts drivers to police activity, speed traps or car crashes. 

She then took a jab at three Republican lawmakers she claimed had faced similar trouble in the past, quipping that they might’ve been «better off» using WAZE.

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AZ State Sen. Analise Ortiz (IMAGN)

The situation drew calls for a formal federal investigation this week from Arizona State Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert.

«Public servants have a duty to uphold the law and respect those who enforce it, not undermine them,» Gilbert said.

Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin countered in comments to Fox News Digital:

«Arizona state Senator Analise Ortiz is siding with vicious cartels, human traffickers, and violent criminals over American citizens,» she said.

In Georgia, a self-described socialist millennial lawmaker was lambasted earlier this year for reportedly posting a step-by-step video to Facebook advising how to avoid ICE raids.

«We have seen examples of it happening in our district and around our metro area,» said state Rep. Gabriel Sanchez, D-Vinings.

Sanchez told viewers of the video, also published by the Cobb County Voice, «Do not answer any question,» and «Do not sign any documents.»

«We are doing everything in our power we can to protect our community, including looking at legislation that could help with this issue.»

Sanchez was previously one of the organizers of «Stop Cop City,» a socialist activist group that made headlines for violently attempting to prevent Atlanta law enforcement from constructing a new training center.

During the first Trump administration, Massachusetts state Rep. Michelle DuBois, D-Brockton, warned undocumented constituents of planned ICE operations in Plymouth County.

DuBois advised people to call a 774 number that linked to a legal services group in the even they needed «immigration help.»

She then said she wanted to «relay» a message from a member of the «Latin community.»

«Please be careful on Wednesday … ICE will be in Brockton that day.

If you are undocumented, don’t go out on the street. If there is a knock on the door of your house, and you don’t know who it is, don’t open the door, I ask you to be careful,» she said.

When confronted at an event by a reporter from CBS’ Boston affiliate, DuBois said, «ICE is welcome to call my office» and claimed the reporter was spreading «hearsay.»

«Passing information along that is already all over the community not only lets the people I represent know what is happening, it lets ICE know that everyone in Brockton is aware of their intended raid if there was one,» DuBois said in a statement.

Neighboring Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson went to Congress to warn that the situation was «most outrageous.»

«It’s undermining my job and every other officer in the United States,» he told then-Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas.