Sanctuary City Whistleblower Warns of Migrant Crime Spillover Ahead of Trump Crackdown [WATCH]

A former migrant shelter operator in Massachusetts is raising alarms about a surge in crime across the state, particularly in Boston, following the closure of the state-funded shelter system.

His warnings come as Democratic leaders push back against President Donald Trump’s federal crime crackdown.

Jon Fetherston, who previously ran a migrant shelter in Marlborough, Massachusetts, has spoken out about what he describes as widespread problems tied to the shelter program and its aftermath.

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“The Healey hotels were well known for having sex trafficking, domestic violence. We’ve reported cases of rape, unfortunately, in there,” Fetherston said.

“Now, you’ve opened it up to all of the cities and towns in Massachusetts.”

Governor Maura Healey announced the shutdown of the state-run shelter hotels, dispersing migrants into local communities.

According to Fetherston, the move has coincided with a rise in domestic violence, shoplifting, sex trafficking, and car accidents.

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He criticized the governor for downplaying the risks. “How the governor just wants the public to believe that all of these things will not happen is extremely naive and extremely dangerous,” he said.

“Governor Healey wants you to think she just snaps her fingers and closes all of the hotels and then disperses people into the communities that the thousand incidents that were reported back in 2024, and the state has refused to release the data for 2025, she just thinks that those serious instances aren’t going to happen in the communities that now she’s forced people into,” he added.

Fetherston also pointed to the dangers of unlicensed or illegal drivers, citing national cases, including that of Harjinder Singh, an illegal immigrant accused of causing a Florida crash that killed three.

“You’ve seen the national stories of unlicensed or illegals with driver’s licenses and CDLs. I haven’t seen that, but I’ve seen a tremendous uptick in car accidents,” he said.

Boston, he warned, has been hit especially hard.

“Your eyes tell you all you need to know. Crime is on an uptick in Boston. Things are not good in Boston,” Fetherston said.

“Boston was once a great city. It is no longer a great city. It is a city that with open drug use, the crime rates have spiked.”

Mayor Michelle Wu has rejected federal intervention efforts, including possible deployment of the National Guard.

“In Boston, we comply and follow all of the laws, city, state, and federal. And we will not back down from communities that have made us the safest major city in the country,” Wu stated.

She also defended her city, saying, “This is a beautiful, diverse, incredible city, and I have said it now very directly, this administration needs to stop attacking cities to hide their own failures.”

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons has taken a different position, pledging to “flood” Boston with federal agents in order to counter illegal immigrant crime.

Fetherston said stronger federal action would be welcomed by many in Massachusetts.

“How any elected official could not put public safety as the biggest priority of any job that they do, it’s disgusting to me and it’s very concerning,” he said.

“Mayor Wu wants to tell you that Boston is one of the safest cities. No, your eyes tell you that Boston has in great decline.”

He also defended the Trump administration’s approach, saying it would benefit communities hit hard by rising crime.

“Anybody who lives in a crime-ridden area, which there are a lot in Massachusetts, will appreciate the effect of it,” he said.

“I’ve talked to business owners, I’ve talked to local law enforcement, anybody who wants to have a sensible conversation about fixing crime in their community, they support what the president’s doing and wants to do.”

He dismissed claims that federal intervention meant militarization of cities. “Yeah, some people probably don’t like the optics because maybe they don’t understand it. And the media is doing, in my opinion, doing a bad job of describing it. Tanks are not rolling down people’s streets. The National Guard’s not walking with guns into your backyard and stuff like that. We’re just there to protect and serve, and that’s what your local police does,” he explained.

“If you don’t want that as an elected official, I don’t want you as my elected official,” Fetherston added.

The White House has also weighed in on the dispute. Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson criticized Healey and Wu’s resistance.

“If these Democrats focused on fixing crime in their own cities instead of doing publicity stunts to criticize the President, their communities would be much safer,” she said.

“Cracking down on crime should not be a partisan issue, but Democrats suffering from TDS [Trump Derangement Syndrome] are trying to make it one,” Jackson added.

“They should listen to fellow Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser who recently celebrated the Trump Administration’s success in driving down violent crime in Washington DC.”

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