Recently revealed documents by CBS News Boston detailed the massive expenditure Massachusetts is spending to house and feed thousands of migrants that have settled in the state after illegally entering the United States.
The records show that the state has signed 17 contracts for housing exceeding $116 million and this figure only provided until the end of June 2024.
"This something that we have been asking the administration for information on, for the better part of a year and have been stonewalled on the information. So, I think for you to get it, I think it's really important," Republican state Sen. Peter Durant said.
In some cases, hotels receive funds for food that can cost up to $16 for breakfast, $17 for lunch and $31 for dinner, or $64 per day per migrant.
Massachusetts has a Right to Shelter law which dictates that the state must provide emergency shelter to families in desperate need. In addition, if basic cooking facilities are not available in the shelter facility, the state needs to provide delivered food as well.
The findings are the latest to show Massachusetts' reluctance to put its own citizens above those who have entered the county illegally. Earlier this month, Democrat Gov. Maura Healey closed a popular Boston recreation center in a majority-Black community to deal with the overflow of migrants seeking free shelter.
Durant said the contracts revealed in the reporting just scratch the surface on the overall cost of the migrant crisis.
"The MassHealth cost and the educational cost," Durant said. "That's the concern is, the money has to come from somewhere and so there's only really two options. You either raise taxes or you cut services. So, this all of this kind of flows downhill right straight to the taxpayers."
Earlier in the year, Healey proposed an $873 million budget supplement to pay for the massive shortfall in shelter funding.
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