MIA: Pam Bondi

Aiding and abetting illegal aliens is a federal crime. And as some in Congress are fond of repeating endlessly, no one is above the law. That truism would leave Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey in a tight spot since she has embarked on a massive program to offer free housing to illegal aliens---free to the illegal alien community but costly to Massachusetts taxpayers. No neighborhood is safe from an illegal alien resettlement. Some residents of Fort Point in Boston’s exclusive Seaport area are outraged about a plan to open an emergency overflow shelter for migrants in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Boston.

Illegal aliens in Massachusetts who are living in emergency shelters may be eligible for a state-run program that provides up to $30,000 over two years to secure stable housing. HomeBASE, the current program for homeless families with children or pregnant women, provides temporary housing under Massachusetts' long-standing right-to-shelter law, said state officials.

Under HomeBase, illegal aliens receive assistance with a family’s first and last month’s rent covered, pre-paid security deposit, paid broker’s fee for locating the new apartment, two-years of monthly rental assistance payments with the possibility of a third support year.

A pilot program is also in the works between non-governmental resettlement agencies and Healey's administration to support up to 400 illegal aliens with one-year of case management to help them find long-term housing, likely at taxpayer expense since Massachusetts housing is the nation’s fourth most expensive behind Hawaii, D.C. and California. The median home price in the Bay State is $526,000. At best, a Massachusetts unskilled illegal alien would earn the state minimum, $15.

Healey is under fire from Massachusetts State Auditor Diana DiZoglio who alleges in a new report that the governor relied on unlawful no-bid contracts — some of which were awarded to political allies — to fund her enormous free housing for illegal aliens’ program. The new report states that Healey disregarded the lawful competitive bidding process, mismanaged contracts, and did not keep proper records, the Boston Globe reported. Auditor DiZoglio alleged that the lack of transparency and “lack of administrative oversight” led to massive waste in funding the illegal alien shelters.

“The no-bid contracts resulted in unnecessarily high costs and inefficiencies,” the auditor’s report said. “Moreover, the duration of the no-bid contracts was excessive. Non-compliance with proper procurement protocols hinders the integrity of the contracting process and undermines the public’s trust in government.”

Healey has brazenly broken federal immigration law. From the Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute: 8 U.S. Code § 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens, (iv) “encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law.” As a Northeastern University School of Law graduate and Massachusetts’ former attorney general, Healey studied and understands U.S. codes. But a defiant Healy would rather risk being charged with federal felonies than end Massachusetts’ outreach to illegal immigrants while she doubles-down on the ever-increasing budget crisis that thousands of illegal immigrant families have created.

Massachusetts’ inadmissible aliens total is about 355,000, with roughly 50,000 new arrivals since 2021 when former President Joe Biden took office. Bay State taxpayers have spent more than $1 billion to date on the emergency shelter system that has been overwhelmed with the task of housing thousands of newly arrived migrants, some whom entered illegally and some who arrived under one of the Biden administration’s unconstitutional parole programs. State budget officials expect they will have to spend another $1.8 billion in the next two years.

State data shows that if has doled out more than $1.3 billion since the start of fiscal year 2024 on emergency assistance shelters, a program initially created to house families with children and pregnant women but has since come to also care for migrants in Massachusetts.

Among the spending so far this year, the Healey administration has shelled out more than $326 million on shelter services, another $55.9 million on a program that provides low-income families with cash assistance to move into stable housing, and more than $32 million on overflow shelter sites, records show. State budget analysts expect to spend more than $1 billion on the emergency assistance program in fiscal year 2025 after doling out $856 million in fiscal year 2024.

Healey’s lawbreaking should be a front-and-center target for Attorney General Pam Bondi. But it’s not, possibly because of Bondi’s overly full plate of state governors whose crimes are equally egregious---think New York’s Kathy Hochul, California’s Gavin Newsom or Illinois’ J.B. Pritzker.

But if Bondi remains on the sidelines, the new Massachusetts U.S. Attorney could step in. Leah Foley, a Republican who replaced the disgraced Biden-appointee Rachael Rollins who resigned when the Department of Justice investigated her for multiple improprieties, refused to rule out prosecuting either Healey or Boston Mayor Michelle Wu for interfering with immigration law enforcement. Foley’s appearance on the immigration enforcement agenda gives citizens fed up with illegal aliens coddling two chances for carrying out the law, both Bondi when she gets around to it or Foley. Two chances are better than one.

Nearly two years ago, Healey declared Massachusetts in an immigration state of emergency and pleaded with the federal government for financial assistance. Since then, her do-nothing attitude has only encouraged more illegal aliens to move to Massachusetts where they will be embraced. Healey is up for re-election in 2026. Massachusetts voters can continue to displace themselves by re-electing Healey or they can choose a candidate who understands the perils of aiding and abetting illegal immigrants.