The illegal immigration crisis is now projected to cost the state of Massachusetts a billion dollars per year, in what some are describing as a ‘fiscal time bomb.’
The worst part is that this is all happening voluntarily. Massachusetts does not have to do this. And imagine what could be done for American citizens living in Massachusetts with those resources.
FOX 25 in Boston reported:
‘Could sink the Commonwealth financially’: Emergency shelter system cost tops $1 billionThe cost of running the state’s emergency shelter system through the next fiscal year is expected to cost taxpayers more than $1 billion dollars.That estimate was revealed before the state’s five-day stay limit for migrants takes effect on Thursday.Massachusetts House and Senate Republicans are warning that taxpayers may need to shell out more than $1 billion dollars each year for several more years to come.That’s if the number of people in need of state-funded shelter services does not subside.“This is one of these things that could sink the Commonwealth financially, and we can’t let that happen,” said Sutton Republican Senator Ryan Fattman. “It’s a billion dollars next year. It’s a billion dollars after that, and there’s no end in sight.”Senator Fattman is among those suggesting that the state make permanent changes to the shelter system to help control the overwhelming cost.He said surplus dollars left over from previous fiscal years won’t be available to help fund the migrant crisis come next year.“We’re going to have to start pulling money from other line items like education, public safety, roads, bridges and social services,” he explained. “That’s when the taxpayers in Massachusetts are truly going to understand the cost of this.”
FOX News has more on this:
The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) released a report on July 24, which predicted The Bay State will struggle to manage the growing number of migrants coming to the state.”The cost to Massachusetts taxpayers of temporary housing and shelters is enormous, but it pales in comparison to the costs that will accumulate in the future if those in the temporary shelters today remain in the Commonwealth for the long term,” CIS director of policy studies Jessica Vaughan wrote.In addition to housing, some other costs taxpayers will have to cover include schooling, social services, medical care, and public safety.These migrants are eligible for certain welfare programs in Massachusetts like food stamps provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, and other public services. Migrants can access these programs even while the federal government prohibits access to such programs.
There needs to be a reckoning for this.
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