It is one of the wealthiest states in America, with residents of the most luxurious zip codes renting $3 million in luxury red brick apartments.
But it’s uncertain whether Massachusetts will survive, according to an alarming new study.
The 50,000 illegal immigrants who have entered the state since Joe Biden became president are putting a huge strain on schools, health care and other services.
Jessica Vaughan, author of the report for the Center for Immigration Studiessays the state is doomed to go bankrupt.
That’s because migrants will cost the government a whopping $1.8 trillion over the next two years.
Migrants from Haiti and elsewhere board a van in Boston en route to a shelter in Quincy, Massachusetts
Even though some illegal migrants will work and pay taxes, this income will not come close to covering the cost of social services for all 355,000 of them, Vaughan says.
“These migrants pose a looming financial disaster for Massachusetts taxpayers,” Vaughan told the Mail.
‘Even if they work, they do not have the skills and training needed to avoid becoming a drain on the public purse.’
Her report comes amid a tense 2024 presidential election, with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump using immigration as a weapon against his rival, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
Migration expert Jessica Vaughan
Republicans have called Harris a failed “border czar” because she was tasked with addressing the root causes of migration from Central America while illegal border crossings reached record levels.
Still, the number of illegal entries has dropped in recent months to levels not seen since the Trump administration, and it is unclear how much this problem will affect the outcome of the vote in November.
Trump, in turn, has vowed to carry out mass deportations if he returns to the White House.
Although Massachusetts is more than 2,000 miles from the southern border, about 50,000 illegal immigrants have arrived in the country since January 2021, the study found.
Some joined relatives, others sought work in Boston, Worcester, Springfield and other large cities.
Some took buses provided by border officials, and several dozen were controversially flown by Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis to the Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard.
Initially, they were welcomed with open arms by a blue state that offered migrants “asylum” protection.
Hundreds of people gathered in Boston, Massachusetts, in May to demand an end to border crossings, sanctuaries and housing for undocumented immigrants.
Migrants no longer allowed to stay overnight at Boston’s Logan Airport
A taxpayer-funded computer skills course for the influx of migrants in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood
More than half of Americans want mass roundups and deportations of illegal immigrants
In recent months, however, the mood has turned to frustration.
Governor Maura Healey recently announced that migrants will no longer be allowed to stay overnight at Boston’s Logan Airport after dozens of families had been staying there for months.
Until last year, migrants slept in the emergency room at Boston Medical Center, when they were told to stop.
However, new people continue to show up at the facility and have been seen resting on benches outside.
Plans for a migrant shelter on Cape Cod have been met with fierce opposition from residents, who have called the proposal a “nightmare.”
The Republican city of Taunton was so angry over government officials sending migrants to an emergency shelter at the 155-room Clarion Hotel that it sued the owners for violating safety regulations.
Vaughan’s report also details the atrocities committed by law-breaking migrants in Massachusetts.
Among them are a Dominican cocaine smuggler, a Russian con man and a Guatemalan man arrested for child abuse.
But the most shocking case involves 26-year-old Haitian migrant Cory Alvarez, who is being held for raping a disabled teenage girl at his Comfort Inn shelter in Rockland.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, a Democrat, has called for action at the border and money for services that remain underfunded in her state.
Several dozen migrants were flown to the Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard by Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
About 30 migrant families slept in Terminal E of Boston’s Logan International Airport in January
The influx of migrants has further strained social services in a state already struggling with alarming numbers of homeless people.
Massachusetts already spends $1 billion a year on emergency shelters, but Vaughan says that masks the true cost to taxpayers.
The influx of new arrivals under Biden, including about 10,000 children, 8,500 of whom traveled without adults, is putting further strain on education, health care and other social services, the report said.
According to Vaughan, the total cost of food stamps, education, health care and public safety could reach a staggering $1.8 trillion over the next two years.
That “fiscal time bomb” is nearly three times the size of the state’s entire economy, which was $615 billion last year.
Governor Healey, a Democrat, joined eight colleagues from other states affected by migrants in January in asking the White House and Congress for action at the border and billions of additional dollars to keep services running.
But Vaughan says even an emergency grant won’t solve Massachusetts’ spending problems in the coming years.
Instead, state lawmakers should cut benefits to immigrants and crack down on employers who hire undocumented workers, she said.
They should also end asylum policies that prevent immigration officials from carrying out deportations, and even use the remittance flowers that migrants send to their families abroad, she added.
The governor’s office did not respond to our request for comment. The White House and other immigration experts have argued that newcomers often work hard, pay taxes and help grow an economy.