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While she is closing immigration shelters in the sanctuary state, critics accused Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy of simply shifting costs to a program that would qualify for at least $30,000 in housing assistance over two years.
The Boston Herald reported in June that the Healy administration increased spending on the Massachusetts home-based program to $97 million in 2025, up from $9.5 million in 2022.
The outlet reported that eligible families in the Massachusetts-operated shelter system have been offered $30,000 in rental assistance over two years. Homebase total caseloads increased by more than 400%, up from 1,473 in January 2023 to 7,767 in April 2025. The outlet also said some eligible families could qualify for an additional $15,000 with a third year of assistance, but state officials had planned to suspend third year of assistance in July.
After that report, Massachusetts GOP Chairman Amy Carnevale commented that the homebase program will be “a shelter under alias.”
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When Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Maura Healy closes immigration shelters in the sanctuary state, she has faced criticism for shifting costs at the same time to dramatically increase spending on programs that detainees say are eligible to receive $30,000 in housing aid. (Photo of the Boston Globe via Jonathan Wiggs/Getty Images and Joseph Prezzoso by Getty Images/AFP)
“Taxpayers are giving immigrant families almost endless free rental assistance. Meanwhile, federal actions mean that these families will not receive immediate work permits at any time,” she continued, adding, “The immigration shelter crisis is not over, and cost shifts are not leadership.”
This month, Healy announced the closure of all remaining hotel shelters in Bay State amid the formal end of an executive emergency business focused on the state’s Biden-era immigration influx.
In a statement sent via email to Fox News Digital, Carnevale said, “Even though we declare that the immigration crisis is over, friends, goodwill and mistakes continue to manifest.”
“Healy should strip off the band-aids and tell the public whether these same surveillance is occurring in the home-based program,” she continued.
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Security guards patrol an emergency overflow shelter for immigrants at MELNEA A. CASS RECREITION COMPLONE in Boston. (Boston Globe via Craig F. Walker/Getty Images)
“Coupled with the lack of stunning oversight by Maura Healy and her administration, the abuse of taxpayer dollars will define her legacy as the governor.”
Meanwhile, John Featherton, a former Massachusetts immigration shelter director who blew whispers about ramp-prolonged crime and abuse that is taking place in the system, commented, “Instead of creating stability, the home base has become a revolving door for short-term rental assistance.”
He said immigrants often spend most of the $30,000 on upfront costs, so many people cannot maintain their homes within months.
“The expansion of the Healy administration’s home-based programme was sold to the public as a solution. This saves money, reduces shelter dependence, and helps immigrant families become self-sufficient. But the reality is very different,” he explained. “Homebase is now a bloated, mismanaged program that has failed both the taxpayers who fund it and the immigrants who claim it will help.”
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Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Governor Maura Healy will tour Boston’s facility, which lives in more than 300 immigrant families. (John Tlumaki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“Homebase is a broken promise in its present form,” he said. “Taxpayers have almost $100 million invoices with little transparency, no measurable results and no end, and the promise of savings from closing hotel shelters is quietly replaced by backdoor spending, which remains unaccountable.
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“This is not a hand-up, it’s a set up of failure.”
Fox News Digital contacted Healey’s office for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Charles Creitz of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
Peter Pinedo is a political writer for Fox News Digital.
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