69° and Cloudy
Image
On Thursday, the right-leaning watchdog organization, Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, joined Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies (the Center) to release a new study examining the economic cost to Massachusetts taxpayers for what they termed "the state’s migrant and illegal immigration crisis."
Community Impacts
They were joined by state Representative Marcus Vaughn (R-Wrentham), who represents the Town of Norfolk, where the Healey administration recently converted a former state prison into the largest temporary migrant housing facility in the state, as well as by Vice President of the Chelsea City Council, Todd Taylor, in whose city the Healey administration converted a former soldier's home into a migrant shelter, as well as State Senator Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton).
The Center’s study reaffirms that the cost of temporary housing and emergency shelter is enormous, but warns that it pales in comparison to the costs that will accumulate in the future if migrants in temporary shelters remain in the Commonwealth long term. These long-term costs include schooling, social services, medical care, public safety, and more and will accrue even if these migrants are able to find jobs, whether with a work permit or through illicit employment.
The full report may be viewed here.
By the Numbers
According to the Center’s study, the number of illegal and inadmissible migrants living in MA is about 355,000, with about 50,000 new arrivals since 2021, when President Joseph Biden took office. Illegal and inadmissible migrants are eligible for certain welfare programs in MA under state law, despite federal bars on access. Other parolees may become eligible for welfare programs five years after entry, regardless of whether they ever attain legal status. This cohort represents a potential fiscal time bomb in terms of welfare costs, beginning in 2026. The Center is warning Massachusetts taxpayers and policy makers of this fiscal time bomb, unless it’s dealt with before 2026.
Outside of this fiscal "time bomb" warning, the Center also analyzed the current cost to Massachusetts taxpayers. On average, illegal and inadmissible migrants pay less in taxes than they consume in welfare benefits and other social services. The Center estimates that nearly 60 percent of all households headed by illegal and inadmissible migrants use at least one welfare program, compared to about 40 percent of households headed by those born in the U.S. The Center estimates that on average, there is a lifetime net fiscal cost to American taxpayers of $68,000 for each illegal and inadmissible migrant.
The Massachusetts legislature quietly passed a measure in a supplemental spending bill in December 2023, allocating six million dollars to provide SNAP welfare benefits for seven months to certain classes of inadmissible migrants. According to the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, 4,000 families received SNAP benefits during this time. Since then, the state ran out of funding for this program. The Center estimates that each additional cohort of parolees that becomes eligible and collects SNAP welfare benefits could add $4.5 million to the cost of SNAP to taxpayers each year – just in Massachusetts.
Using prior estimates from a variety of sources and applying the rate of growth of the illegal population overall, the Center estimates that there currently are about 25,000 children in Massachusetts schools who are what they termed as "illegal and inadmissible" migrants, and at least that number who are U.S.-born children of illegal and inadmissible migrants living in Massachusetts. Of these, at least 10,000 arrived in the last three years under Biden Administration policies, including 8,500 unaccompanied minors. The state spends an average of nearly $23,000 per student per year, setting the base cost of illegal and inadmissible migrants children at $575 million per year – with 40 percent of that cost attributable to the arrival of children under Biden policies. Moreover, according to the studies reviewed by the Congressional Budget Office, the cost of educating students who do not speak English fluently is 20 to 40 percent higher than the cost of educating a U.S.-born student.
One academic study estimated in 2023 that the direct cost of health insurance for each additional nonelderly adult immigrant (legal or illegal) to be about $3,800 per person per year.
According to ICE records that the Center obtained through FOIA, deportations of illegal and inadmissible migrants who had been arrested for state and local crimes plunged by 77 percent from 2019 to 2021, from an average of 88 per month to an average of 20 per month. As a result, a considerable number of deportable criminals are able to remain in Massachusetts, instead of being returned home.
In Fiscal Year 2022 (the most recent data available), Massachusetts reported that convicted illegal and inadmissible migrants were incarcerated for a total of 43,811 days in the year. In addition, suspected but unconfirmed illegal aliens were incarcerated for another 23,816 days. This partial count of convicted illegal and inadmissible migrants accounted for about three percent of the total corrections population. Using this information, it is possible to estimate that the cost of incarcerating criminal aliens who were convicted of serious or multiple crimes (not counting those held pre-trial and those who are released on bail after a brief incarceration) in FY2022 was approximately $27 million.
“The Center for Immigration Studies is warning Massachusetts taxpayers and policy makers of a fiscal time bomb set to go off in 2026. A massive wave of generous taxpayer funded welfare benefits will go into effect for illegal and inadmissible migrants, unless action is taken. Some of this is due to federal policy failures, but it is significantly exacerbated by the policy choices of Governor Maura Healey and State House leaders to extend the social safety net to illegal migrants. The cost of these choices inevitably reduces the state’s ability to provide for American citizens and legal immigrants who need assistance. It simply is not sustainable to have a generous welfare state with mass illegal migration.” stated Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies.
Unheard, Unheeded
Jessica Vaughan, a former Franklin resident, was scheduled to present her findings on the migrant situation at a Franklin venue in 2016, before the situation became the crisis that it is today, but a human shield of radical pro-immigration demonstrators prevented the event from going forward. Since then, much has happened and Vaughan has move on to the national stage.
“Small bedroom communities like mine are being required to shoulder the very high economic cost for the state’s broken policies. A small town like Norfolk, which has about 11,000 residents, has suddenly seen hundreds of migrants enter the community, and is being required to provide the social services, schools, and other accommodations necessary. This is unsustainable for the state and for small suburban towns like the towns I represent,” commented state Representative Marcus Vaughn (R-Wrentham).
“Governor Maura Healey, Speaker Ron Mariano, and Senate President Karen Spilka are making policy choices that come with significant economic costs to the taxpayers. While they signal with their lack of policy reforms that the state can afford to cover the financial costs for the world’s migrants, the Center’s study shines a light on what their lack of action is costing the taxpayers. Massachusetts taxpayers better be ready for the fiscal time bomb our Governor and State House leaders have set us up for,” concluded Paul Diego Craney, spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.
“These broken policies at the federal and state levels are having a very real and negative impact on cities like mine. In April, Chelsea made national news because the Healey administration converted an old soldier's home into a migrant housing facility. The state made a decision to shut down this facility for our veterans, just to reopen it for migrants. These stop gap housing conditions are not suitable long-term solutions. There is a human toll for the migrants, and for cities like Chelsea there is also an economic cost to its taxpayers," concluded Vice President of the Chelsea City Council Todd Taylor.
Other similar sacrifices have been faced elsewhere, such as the closure of a community center last year in Roxbury to convert it into migrant housing.
"Our caucus has time and again proposed common sense reforms designed to both reduce the pull factors bringing migrants from the southern border all the way to Massachusetts and to ensure that both our state and local governments do not become overwhelmed. This study demonstrates plainly that the long-term impact on Massachusetts finances will be devastating. This problem is only going to continue to get worse. The time is now to reform our state's broken right to shelter law," stated Senator Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton).
