Northeast
Massachusetts migrants taking shelter beds from taxpayers, allowed in with no vetting: former director
A former migrant shelter director in Massachusetts described the chaos he saw under the state’s right-to-shelter laws, saying that the influx of illegal immigrants has clogged the state’s infrastructure and that there is virtually no vetting for the surge of border crossers.
Massachusetts spent nearly $1.1 billion of taxpayers’ money this fiscal year to house and feed migrants streaming into the state, often in hotels that have been converted to shelters. However, taxpayers have at times found themselves boxed out of shelters as immigrants have crowded the system and taken priority, said Jon Fetherston, who acted as a migrant shelter director at the Marlborough Holiday Inn between November 2023 and July of last year.
Under its right-to-shelter law, established in 1983, the state must provide housing for displaced families and pregnant women. In 2023, the state’s shelters reached their capacity of 7,500 enrolled families – yet migrants continue to use Massachusetts’ programs.
Fetherston previously detailed the repeated violent incidents and mistreatment of children he saw during his tenure – and decried a lack of consequences for their perpetrators.
CHILD RAPE AND VIOLENT INCIDENTS REPORTED AT MASSACHUSETTS MIGRANT SHELTERS, FORMER FACILITY DIRECTOR SAYS
Illegal immigrants line the floors of a terminal at Boston Logan Airport as Massachusetts’ shelters are overrun. (WBZ)
In light of a man from the Dominican Republic, who was accused of possessing an AR-15 and $1 million worth of fentanyl in a state-subsidized room last month in Revere, Fetherston explained the vetting process – or lack thereof – in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Leonardo Andujar Sanchez, 28, was arrested on Dec. 27 after his girlfriend called Revere police to report that he had drugs and a long, black gun hidden under a pink suitcase in their hotel room. The woman told police that she had been living at the Quality Inn for three months and that she and Sanchez had obtained the room through a refugee program.
“I worked in that shelter for a very limited time,” Fetherston told Fox News Digital. “You can’t hide an AR-15 in that room. You cannot hide drugs in that room. The rooms are not big… the case manager there should have been standing up… there should have been red flags… to say ‘Hey, listen, this guy’s not attending those meetings. This guy is blowing off housekeeping.’”
DEM MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR NOW WANTS TO LIMIT ILLEGALS IN CRIME-RIDDEN MIGRANT SHELTERS
Meshach Little of Northill Wilkston Security Firm walks the perimeter of the main living area at the state’s emergency overflow shelter for migrants at the Melnea A. Cass Recreational Complex. (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Fetherston said that the incident was just another example of a lack of security and vetting at the state’s strained migrant facilities.
The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, which oversees the state’s shelter program, told Fox News Digital that it has security guards at every facility and conducts warrant checks every 30 days. However, Fetherston did not see that activity during his tenure.
“I will tell you that all the shelters that I’ve either worked in and volunteered [at] do have a form of security. But… it’s really basically somebody sitting at the desk – no better than you would have in a corporate office park… it’s certainly not the level of security that you need in these shelters… I never saw anybody come in and do a warrant check.”
Staff at the shelters were primarily chosen because of the languages they spoke rather than any kind of experience, he said.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WITH $1M WORTH OF DRUGS, GUNS GIVEN FREE HOUSING COURTESY OF BLUE STATE TAXPAYERS: OFFICIALS
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, right, visit the Melnea A. Cass Recreational Complex, which was being used to house more than 300 immigrants. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“You hire people just because they can speak the language that you need, being either Haitian or, you know, Portuguese or Spanish. So you’re not necessarily hiring a qualified caseworker or mental health advocate or somebody who’s been experienced in navigating these things, because those people don’t exist,” he said.
“A lot of times… the case managers became sympathetic to their fellow countrymen when they taught them how to navigate the system and not always in the most ethical ways. And that’s where the chaos came down.”
Meanwhile, he said, there was “a tremendous amount of domestic violence… a tremendous amount of violence towards children [and] a tremendous amount of violence towards other countrymen.”
Fetherston said residents’ alleged friends and relatives would constantly cycle through the facility where he worked. Despite policies about residents coming through security, staffing was stretched so thin that actually keeping track of who was coming in and out was near impossible.
ICE ARRESTS 3 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN MASS.: 2 CHARGED WITH CHILD RAPE, 1 CONVICTED OF SAME CRIME IN BRAZIL
Pictured are items allegedly found in Leonardo Andujar Sanchez’s possession when he was arrested at a Revere, Massachusetts, migrant shelter on Dec. 27. (ERO Boston)
“[The Revere arrest] touch[es] the hot point [for me] from day three, maybe, of me being in the shelter,” Fetherston said. “‘Who’s that?… I didn’t check them in. I didn’t see them when they came in. Who were they?… How did this guy get past?’ ‘Well, that’s so-and-so’s uncle.’”
Oftentimes, he said, families would “disappear” – housekeeping would report that a family had not been in their room for three or four days. He would get calls about residents showing up at the facility, and they would never arrive, or a person whose ID did not match at all would show up.
Since a ruling handed down by the Supreme Court in November of last year, after Fetherston left the shelter, shelters are not allowed to ask families for identification or documents when they are applying for its short-term shelter program.
This distinction, he said, makes Democratic Gov. Maura Healey’s recent call to further vet emergency shelter residents to ensure that they are in the U.S. legally, with rare exceptions, impossible.
“I believe these changes are appropriate and needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of the state shelter system in a way that aligns with the original intent of the law,” Healey said in a statement. “In addition, these proposed changes will allow us to continue to ensure the safety of our system, support cities and towns in addressing the needs of unhoused families in their communities and put us on the path toward a more fiscally sustainable shelter system.”
“She can say she will increase vetting, but how do you vet someone who has no ID? She also wants migrants to self-identify if they have committed crimes in the past – that’s not going to happen,” Fetherston said.
DEM GOVERNOR THREATENS TO USE ‘EVERY TOOL’ TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST TRUMP-ERA DEPORTATIONS
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey held a press conference announcing significant action related to the state’s emergency shelter system. (Photo by Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“She is saying this now, in an attempt to get [this] out of the news, and then have someone to blame when the reform doesn’t happen,” Fetherston said.
Healey’s office could not be reached for comment at press time.
Fetherston said he has had to turn away American citizens who had fallen on hard times amid the chaos at the state’s migrant shelters.
“I would have veterans walk up to the shelter, [saying] ‘I am a Vietnam veteran, I just need a room for tonight.’ And I would say, ‘I’m sorry. This is for migrants. All the public is not allowed. This is for migrants only,’” he recalled.
“I wasn’t always able to find, you know, a homeless veteran a place on a cold night. But we’ve got migrants,” he continued. “And once again, I don’t blame them living in a shelter where everything’s free for three free meals, free dry cleaning, free Ubers, has a roof over your head, free health care. And I’m sending a decorated veteran out into the cold. At least half a dozen times I had to do that.”
He also said that, although there are technically limitations to how long one can stay in the state’s shelters, they are not always enforced, and spots for citizens in need are not made available.
“You can’t blame the people who stepped up and tried to do their job. You have to blame the system and the person running the system for not putting checks and balances,” Fetherston said. “The governor had no plan and she just wanted to get these shelters open… Nobody specializes in this – Massachusetts is the only state in the entire nation that has the right to shelter. So it’s fair to say, well, they didn’t have qualified people. Well, nobody’s qualified for this because nobody’s ever had to experience this.”
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Massachusetts
Will Minogue’s Trump ties, abortion stance make him unelectable in Mass.? – The Boston Globe
Minogue’s words during a recent appearance on WCVB’s “On The Record” — “I’m a Catholic and I am pro-life” — certainly run counter to the careful abortion rights positioning of other Massachusetts Republicans who won the governor’s office over the past three-plus decades.
When Charlie Baker ran for governor in 2014, his first general election campaign ad featured his then-17-year-old daughter saying, “You’re totally pro-choice and bipartisan.” When Mitt Romney ran for governor in 2002, he stated in a debate, “I will preserve and protect a women’s right to choose.” When Bill Weld ran for governor in 1990, he told the Globe, “Count me as ‘modified pro-choice.’”
Over time, these positions evolved in different ways.
Weld went from “modified pro-choice” to showing up at a national GOP convention to lobby against the party’s antiabortion platform. When Romney ran for president, he retreated completely from the stance he’d taken in Massachusetts. Despite Baker’s “totally pro-choice” positioning, he ultimately vetoed a bill that expanded access to abortion, including a provision that would have allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to get an abortion without parental consent. The Legislature overturned that veto, and the measure became law in 2020.
As reported by WBUR, the Minogue campaign put out a statement that said, “Mike Minogue cannot and will not change the law,” without elaborating beyond that.
In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned abortion as a national right, making state law even more critical. Since then, Governor Maura Healey has made the strengthening of abortion protections for patients and providers even more of a signature cause.
Last week’s ruling by a federal appeals court in New Orleans, which halted access to a common abortion drug, mifepristone, through the mail for telehealth patients, once again underscored the political uncertainty around abortion access. Healey, who joined other Democrat-led states in stockpiling the drug to guard against a potential ban of it, quickly issued a statement that said she would “keep standing up to efforts by President Trump and his allies to roll back reproductive rights.”
On Monday, the Supreme Court temporarily restored access to mifepristone. Both sides have a week to respond.
While Minogue can try to argue that abortion is protected in Massachusetts, and there’s nothing he can or would do to change that, these are unpredictable times for reproductive rights. It’s a key issue that puts him at odds with many Massachusetts voters.
His first campaign ad since the GOP convention that endorsed him introduces him as “a new kind of governor.”
By Massachusetts standards, he certainly would be different. He’s much closer to Trump than other recent Republican candidates, having hosted that Vance fund-raiser and donated nearly $1 million to Trump and MAGA candidates in 2024.
Of Massachusetts’ 5 million voters, 1.2 million are registered Democrats, and 423,387 are registered Republicans. Unenrolled or independent voters, who make up 3.2 million registered voters, are key to winning statewide office. Given that Trump’s overall approval rating in the state is about 33 percent, Minogue’s Trump connections are not going to help him much with that crowd.
Polling also shows that the vast majority of Massachusetts voters strongly support abortion rights and are more likely to support elected officials if they work to advance legislation that will prevent the government from interfering with personal decisions about pregnancy.
Minogue will no doubt want to talk about transgender athletes, illegal immigration, the cost of housing and utilities, and the overall issue of economic growth. His allies are also trying to drive Shortsleeve out of the race, and in the WCVB interview, Minogue argued that the overwhelming endorsement he got from the roughly 1,800 delegates who attended the convention shows where the Republican Party is in Massachusetts right now.
And so it does. But is that where most Massachusetts voters are?
There’s a legitimate debate to be had, for sure, about the economic direction of the state.
But to have it, Minogue will have to convince voters to look past his Trump association and his “pro-life” self-description. Meanwhile, a fellow Republican is calling him unelectable — music to Healey’s ears.
Joan Vennochi is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at joan.vennochi@globe.com. Follow her @joan_vennochi.
New Hampshire
NH medical marijuana program added 2,100 new patients last year – Monadnock Ledger-Transcript
More than 2,100 new patients signed up with New Hampshire’s Therapeutic Cannabis Program last year, bringing the total registry to nearly 17,000, according to new state data.
That increase — about 14.5% from the year prior — is the largest since 2021.
Likely driving the growth were changes to state law in 2024 that allowed more people to qualify for medical marijuana use. They can now join the program at doctors’ discretion — which covers any debilitating or terminal condition or symptom, as long as their medical provider agrees the benefits of cannabis could outweigh the risks — or with a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder.
More than 900 patients list anxiety as their qualifying condition, according to the report issued this week by the state Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the program.
“There was certainly an uptick in growth after those bills took effect in late 2024. It hasn’t skyrocketed, but has somewhat accelerated the growth of the program,” said Matt Simon, a lobbyist for GraniteLeaf Cannabis, one of three licensed cannabis providers in the state. “Where we’ve been, this extremely tiny program that was tiny for years, it is steadily growing.”
With 16,846 people, about 1.2% of the population are either certified patients or designated caregivers, who are authorized to buy cannabis on behalf of a patient. That’s close to one in every 84 Granite Staters.
The data released by the state was collected in June 2025. Simon estimates roughly 1,000 more people have joined since then.
The Therapeutic Cannabis Program, established in 2013, is the only way to lawfully consume marijuana in New Hampshire, as recreational use remains illegal. Patients require a doctor’s approval to join and receive a state-issued card that licenses them to buy medical cannabis products from seven dispensaries across the state, operated by three producers: GraniteLeaf Cannabis, Sanctuary Medicinals and Temescal Wellness.
The new data comes as the Trump administration reclassified medical marijuana last month as a less dangerous drug, effectively legitimizing programs run in 40 states, including New Hampshire’s. The change opens the door for more cannabis research and potential tax breaks for producers.
In New Hampshire, program demographics skew older. Nearly a quarter of patients are between 55 and 65 years old, and almost 70% of patients are over the age of 45. Pain is far and away the most common condition that people aim to treat with cannabis.
Patients are concentrated in southern New Hampshire and in towns where dispensaries, also called alternative treatment centers, are located. There are seven across the state in Chichester, Conway, Dover, Keene, Lebanon, Merrimack and Plymouth.
Concord has between 300 and 734 patients, according to the state data. Manchester has the most patients out of any municipality, at 1,150.
Despite the program’s growth, cost and accessibility remain a challenge. Jerry Knirk, a retired surgeon and state representative who now chairs the state’s Therapeutic Cannabis Medical Oversight Board, said New Hampshire’s strict regulatory environment plays a role.
“Part of the issue is we have a very high-quality, highly regulated program with testing of all products and lots of restrictions and things, and that does make things more expensive, but it’s how you keep the quality to be really high,” Knirk said. “We want to have really good quality. Unfortunately, it does make it a little bit harder.
One family of three spent $548 after discounts on a six-week supply of their medicine, which they use for chronic pain and other ailments, the Monitor reported last year.
Limited retail locations also mean that in some parts of the North Country, patients must drive upwards of an hour to obtain their medicine.
“The lack of dispensary locations, well, yeah, that is a problem,” Knirk said.
The oversight board, joined by other advocates, has pushed for laws to alleviate those concerns. Some of the biggest include allowing patients to grow their own medicine at home and letting dispensaries use outdoor greenhouses to cut down on electricity costs.
That legislation is introduced in the State House almost every year but is often torpedoed by Republicans’ concerns over security protocols.
While advocates expected little movement on marijuana policy under Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who opposes legalizing recreational use, the bill to allow greenhouse cultivation is nearing the finish line this session. Former governor Chris Sununu vetoed a similar bill two years ago; Ayotte hasn’t indicated whether she’d sign it.
Simon said that while cost and accessibility are still challenges, patient satisfaction with the program is improving.
“We started in a tough place with a lot of people really not liking the law and the program,” he said. “I think it’s been steady growth and steady improvement. Prices have come down somewhat, and the vibes are better.”
New Jersey
The PATH fare hike just took effect: it’ll now cost you $3.25 to take the train to New Jersey
Commuters traveling between New Jersey and Manhattan are about to pay a little more for their rides. Starting today, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has officially implemented a fare increase across the PATH system. It’s another hit for the wallet, but the increase comes with the most significant service expansion the 118-year-old system has seen in decades.
As of today, the base fare for a single ride on the PATH has increased by 25 cents, jumping from $3.00 to $3.25. This adjustment affects all standard payment methods, including TAPP, SmartLink and Pay-Per-Ride MetroCards.
Multi-trip options still offer a better deal for those looking to save. Bundles of 10, 20 or 40 trips via TAPP cards now average $3.10 per ride, up from the previous $2.85. Senior citizens and riders with disabilities will see a smaller adjustment, with reduced-fare tickets increasing by a dime to $1.60.
This is only the first of a series of increases, however, as the Port Authority has outlined a roadmap of 25-cent increases every January through 2029, at which point a single ride will reach $4.00.
The fare hike is immediate, but the payoff for commuters arrives on May 17, when the PATH restores full seven-day service across all four lines for the first time since 2001.
The highlight of these changes is the return of direct Hoboken–World Trade Center weekend service, ending a nearly 25-year hiatus. Additionally, the time-consuming “Hoboken detour” for Jersey City riders is being eliminated during peak weekend hours. Between 10am and 9pm, the Journal Square–33rd St and Hoboken–33rd St lines will run every 10 minutes, while the Hoboken–WTC line will run every 20 minutes.
Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia noted that these changes mark a “larger turning point” for the system. The increased revenue is earmarked for critical infrastructure upgrades and system reliability.
“These game-changing service enhancements and improved fare payment options are continuing to provide more frequent and reliable service to our customers,” said PATH Director/General Manager Clarelle DeGraffe. “Having seven-day service on all our lines is a blueprint for more frequent, faster, and more reliable service for our customers.”
Beyond weekend changes, the agency is also tackling late-night frustration; Friday night service will now run every 20 minutes until 2am, finally replacing the dreaded 40-minute wait times.
For the thousands of daily riders, the higher price may be unwelcome, but the tradeoff is more convenience and reliability, and dramatic future improvements. Find out more at www.panynj.gov.
New fares on the PATH trains
- 1-Trip Total Access PATH Payment (TAPP), 1-Trip SmartLink, PATH SingleRide Ticket, Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard: $3.25 per ride
- PATH 2-Trip MetroCard: $6.50, or $3.25 per ride
- 10-Trip on TAPP Card: $31, or $3.10 per ride20-Trip on TAPP Card: $62, or $3.10 per ride
- 40-Trip on TAPP Card: $124, or $3.10 per ride
- Reduced Fare: $1.60, or $1.60 per ride
- TAPP Unlimited 1-Day Pass: $12.50
- TAPP Unlimited 7-Day Pass: $42.75
- TAPP Unlimited 30-Day Pass: $131.50
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