‘Not a sanctuary state’: Massachusetts Governor Healey backpedals on immigration

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey (D) appeared to backpedal on her previous position regarding sanctuary policies and immigration.

In two separate interviews with the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald this week, Healey claimed, “We’re not a sanctuary state.”

‘Governor Healey’s recent remarks are in stark contrast to comments she’s made celebrating Massachusetts being a sanctuary state.’

While there is no set definition for sanctuary jurisdictions, several policies are usually associated with the term and are generally used to label a particular state or city as such. One such policy includes the refusal to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

Massachusetts does not observe Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer requests. Additionally, it is the nation’s only right-to-shelter state, which requires it to provide housing to all pregnant women and families with children under 21 years old.

After President-elect Donald Trump secured the 2024 election, Healey was one of several Democratic politicians who vowed to defy his mass deportation efforts.

She stated that Massachusetts state police would “absolutely not” cooperate with the incoming president’s plan. Healey further pledged to use “every tool in the toolbox” to “protect” illegal aliens residing in the state.

This week, Healey appeared to do a U-turn.

She told the Boston Herald that the cost to provide housing to the many foreign nationals who have flooded the state is “overwhelming.”

“We have a limited budget, and the emergency shelter system really was meant for Massachusetts families who were experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity and needed a place to go that was temporary,” Healey stated. “We’re trying to get to that place where emergency shelter is temporary and that it’s really there just for a limited purpose for a family.”

Healey said she believes “violent criminals should be deported if they’re not here lawfully.”

She told the Boston Herald that local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies should work together to remove these threats.

“I think what we need to do is work together here in Massachusetts to do both things: investigate, hold accountable, deport as necessary folks who are here unlawfully, who’ve engaged in criminal activity, absolutely, and also stand up for and protect the people who have been working here, going to school here, raising kids here, to ensure that they are not scared to go to the doctors or drop their kids off or school or go to work,” Healey stated.

She claimed that the number of taxpayer dollars going toward the state’s emergency shelter system would decrease.

Healey told the Boston Globe that she hopes to find common ground with the incoming administration on immigration issues.

“He’s got Congress and the Senate,” she said, referring to Trump. “And I hope he acts on that so that we see comprehensive immigration reform, we see a strengthening of the border, and we also see a pathway to citizenship for people who’ve been here, working, contributing to our economy, paying taxes.”

Paul Craney of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance told Blaze News, “The Governor’s comments are exactly why people are losing trust in their elected officials.”

“Voters want truthful statements from their elected officials, and not more gaslighting,” he continued. “Governor Healey’s recent remarks are in stark contrast to comments she’s made celebrating Massachusetts being a sanctuary state or even more recent remarks once President-elect Trump won office again in which she bragged about opposing some of the Trump Administration’s efforts to deport illegal immigrants and inadmissible migrants.”

“No one is buying it, but that’s what her consultants are telling her to say,” Craney added.

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