‘Dangerous and corrupt’: Whistleblower demands DOJ probe Massachusetts migrant shelters

Massachusetts’ sanctuary policies, combined with the former Biden administration’s immigration crisis, have resulted in a disastrous situation for the state’s overwhelmed shelter system, which has become a hotbed of criminal activity and has led to the mismanagement of taxpayer funds.

Jon Fetherston, a former director for one of those emergency shelters, a Marlborough Holiday Inn that housed hundreds of individuals, gained firsthand experience with some of the shelter program’s most egregious and disturbing issues.

‘The system is bloated with bureaucracy and lacks meaningful financial accountability.’

Fetherston, who worked as the shelter’s director in 2023 and 2024, announced that his experiences prompted him to demand the federal government investigate Democratic Governor Maura Healey’s migrant shelters.

Fetherston called Healey’s program “dangerous and corrupt,” urging Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday to “immediately launch a full investigation” into “a disturbing pattern of criminal activity, sexual assaults, financial abuse, and the widespread use of no-bid contracts.”

He described the program as a “disaster for public safety, government transparency, and fiscal accountability” that has failed Massachusetts residents and the migrants it is supposed to help.

Safety concerns

Among the most concerning failures Fetherston observed were rampant criminal activities within the shelters, which posed direct threats to vulnerable residents and the nearby community.

Fetherston pointed to disturbing cases of sexual assault, including an instance where a father residing at the state-run shelter was accused of repeatedly raping his minor daughter, resulting in her pregnancy.

Fetherston wrote to Bondi that the incident was not isolated and that he was “aware of other women and girls who were assaulted in shelters that had no adequate safeguards, supervision, or response protocols.”

Fetherston told Blaze News, “To this day, no one has been held accountable.”

RELATED: Blaze News original: Inside Massachusetts migrant shelters where crime flourishes under Democrats’ watch

Photo by Anibal Martel/Anadolu via Getty Images

He noted that the state’s refusal to cooperate and share information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while “often obscured by political rhetoric,” has resulted in “a real and urgent threat to community safety.”

Despite Healey’s claims that individuals undergo background checks before entering the state-run shelters, criminals and migrants with active deportation orders were “knowingly placed in family shelters alongside children and vulnerable residents,” Fetherston said.

“The governor claimed that all migrants were run through the Massachusetts [Criminal Offender Record Information] system,” he continued. “That was a blatant falsehood. She later said she directed her staff to do so but produced no documentation to prove it, and no one on her staff was held accountable. Moreover, running migrants through the CORI system only reveals crimes committed in Massachusetts, rendering it nearly useless for individuals arriving from other countries. This was simply more gaslighting from the governor.”

Financial abuses

In addition to endangering the community, the shelter system wastes taxpayer funds through rampant financial abuses, requiring urgent scrutiny, Fetherston revealed.

Fetherston outlined widespread fraud within the state’s shelter system, which he called “staggering and frankly insulting to taxpayers.”

He stated that he witnessed vendors bill for services never rendered and government contracts awarded without proper oversight.

Fetherston also pointed out that shelter staff would clock in for work and then leave. They used the hotel’s rooms for personal purposes, booked personal rideshare services through the shelter’s account, brought their laundry for the shelter’s vendors to handle, and even advised migrants on how to manipulate the immigration system.

“The system is bloated with bureaucracy and lacks meaningful financial accountability,” he stated.

Fetherston’s claims of financial mismanagement were backed by a state audit, which revealed issues in the shelter program’s contracting and oversight processes.

‘Until these reforms occur, public funds are wasted, and the families who rely on the system suffer the most.’

Massachusetts State Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s Office released a report in May, which revealed that the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities “failed to adequately assess and act upon the increased demand for shelter services, resulting in improper and unlawful no-bid emergency procurements for food and transportation services.”

The audit noted a “lack of fairness,” “transparency,” and “accountability” in the state’s contracting process that resulted in “unnecessarily high costs and inefficiencies.”

The audit also revealed that the state “mismanaged” its contracts with shelters and hotels, pointing to “a lack of administrative oversight at EOHLC” and “creating an avoidable risk.”

RELATED: Illegal alien allegedly repeatedly rapes minor daughter, sent to another Mass. shelter instead of jail: Ex-facility director

Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Fetherston’s attempts to address these failures revealed deeper issues, including ignored warnings and personal consequences for speaking out.

Fetherston told Blaze News that his efforts to expose the shelter system abuses came at a personal cost, including “direct retaliation.” He noted that state officials consistently ignored his concerns.

When Fetherston attempted to save taxpayer-funded resources, he faced intimidation from one resident who allegedly crashed a vehicle into his office after he announced that residents with EBT and WIC benefits would no longer receive taxpayer-funded diapers, wipes, and formula through the shelter.

“Taxpayers have every right to demand transparency and results,” Fetherston told Blaze News. “That begins with full independent audits, strong whistleblower protections, thorough investigations, and a comprehensive overhaul of procurement and oversight processes. Until these reforms occur, public funds are wasted, and the families who rely on the system suffer the most.”

Fetherston asked the DOJ to open an investigation into “criminal activity and sexual violence within Massachusetts-run migrant shelters,” “widespread fraud and misuse of federal and state funds,” “the deliberate refusal to coordinate with federal law enforcement agencies,” and “the pattern of retaliation against those reporting abuse, danger, or misconduct.”

The DOJ could not confirm receipt of Fetherston’s letter.

Healey’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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