Massachusetts Taxpayers Paying For Free Apartments For Migrants

Have you had trouble finding an apartment you can afford? Have you had trouble finding an apartment, period?

Given the significant housing shortage, it can be challenging, especially when the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is moving thousands of migrants from emergency shelters to permanent homes – and using your money to pay their rent.

Faced with an intense public reaction to the wave of migrants that flooded Massachusetts before President Donald Trump's crackdown at the southern border, Governor Maura Healey, who is spending billions of public dollars to house the migrants, is taking a different approach.

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After making window-dressing adjustments to the so-called Right to Shelter law, Healey has shifted many migrants from emergency shelters at motels, a rec center in Roxbury, Logan International Airport, and even a rehabbed former jailhouse into more permanent digs.

Boston-based Public Broadcasting Station WGBH reports, "The number of migrant families staying in emergency shelters has dropped significantly down 30 percent in eight months."

The migrants didn't return home or disappear.

The Healey Administration's Office of Housing and Livable Communities is placing eligible migrant families in apartments statewide and using your money to pay for it under the Commonwealth's HomeBASE program.

The program assists qualified migrants in finding an apartment, money to pay for a broker, and up to two years of free rent ($30,000) "with the possibility of a third year of help, based on need."

However, the Healey Administration is closed-mouthed about how many migrants have been assisted through the HomeBASE program and at what cost to the taxpayers.

Tuesday Associates political consultant/strategist and WBSM contributor Holly Robichaud said she has filed a public records request to get answers to those questions.

"I asked for the numbers now versus last year versus the year before," Robichaud said.

Healey recently submitted a supplemental budget request for $756 million, including $42.9 million for Residential Assistance for Families in Transition.

Third Bristol and Plymouth District Republican State Senator Republican Kelly Dooner doesn't know how many migrant families have been shifted to apartments under the HomeBASE program.

Dooner said she and Sixth Worcester District State Senator and Assistant Minority Leader Republican Peter Durant have requested the information but have received nothing.

"Given the line item in the budget for HomeBASE, the number is significant," Dooner said.