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Massachusetts

Editorial: Throwing money at migrants foolhardy

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Editorial: Throwing money at migrants foolhardy


The median home price in Boston is $800,000, at last count. For Massachusetts, it’s $616,450, according to BankRate.com. And that’s not factoring in a sky-high 7.56% mortgage rate.

Renting a one-bedroom apartment in the city goes for $3,311, according to Apartments.com. It’s about the same nearby, too.

So offering migrants who qualify $30,000 to help with housing begs the question: Isn’t that reckless disregard for those already struggling to pay the rent or mortgage?

We think it does send the wrong message. It’s just bad policy.

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Gov. Maura Healey can blame Congress for the migrant crisis until she turns blue, but a $30,000 housing perk will give Massachusetts more headaches. The right-to-shelter law already has illegal immigrants heading north east. The housing bonus will just accelerate the migration.

As we reported yesterday, HomeBASE can help with a homeless family’s first and last month’s rent, security deposit, and broker’s fee for a new apartment using that $30,000 cushion. Monthly payments can assist with rent up to two years, with the possibility of a third year of help.

Money can also head to furniture, moving expenses, and utilities based on a family’s needs. And the program also supports overdue rent or utility payments.

The program pays a landlord or vendor, like a moving company or utility company, directly instead of handing cash to the family.

The shelter system is maxed out in Massachusetts. The Biden administration is failing miserably at helping stem the tide of illegal immigration and taxpayers are going to be left to pick up the bill for years to come.

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Healey’s first job must be defending the taxpayers of Massachusetts. Her ambitions, it seems, get in the way. That’s why having a Democrat, or at least a progressive one, sitting in the Corner Office is only going to end badly — for us.

Healey needs to send a message to border crossers today that Massachusetts is closed for business. We need to take care of our own citizens first.



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Massachusetts

‘Oh, God! Oh, God!’: Massachusetts couple frightened by huge shark by their boat (WATCH)

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‘Oh, God! Oh, God!’: Massachusetts couple frightened by huge shark by their boat (WATCH)


A Massachusetts couple, out boating, were startled and frightened by a 20-foot shark this week.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

One started videotaping the experience, while the shark came close to the boat.

“Oh, God!, Oh God!” the woman said.

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The main responded, “Wow!”

Because the fish was so big, the woman, at first, thought it was a whale, but the man said, “No, that is a shark.”

“That is a shark like I’ve never seen,” said the woman after realizing it was indeed a shark.

The shark swam toward the boat, before the video ends.



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Gov. Healey’s southern border trip cost taxpayers $6,800, according to new data

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Gov. Healey’s southern border trip cost taxpayers $6,800, according to new data


The Healey administration shelled out more than $6,800 to send a five-person team to the southern border in Texas to “educate” people of a shelter shortage here, according to her office.

The trip was pitched as another attempt to curtail the number of migrants arriving in Massachusetts and make connections with federal immigration officials who were dealing with a surge in border crossings down south.

A spokesperson for the governor said Friday the group spent a total of $6,804 on the four-day trip this week, including $2,028 on hotels, $3,903 on flights, and $872 on ground transportation.

Scott Rice, a retired National Guard general who oversees the state-run shelter system, said the trip was an “important opportunity to meet with families arriving in the U.S. and the organizations that work with them at the border to make sure they have accurate information about the lack of shelter space in Massachusetts.”

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“It is essential that we get the word out that our shelters are full so that families can plan accordingly to make sure they have a safe place to go,” he said in a statement earlier this week.

The group visited locations in San Antonio, McAllen, Hidalgo, and Brownsville, the most common points of entry for migrant families that later arrive in Massachusetts, according to the Healey administration.

Healey said earlier this week that the trip was “successful” even as conservatives criticized the move as a “publicity stunt.”

“We don’t have housing available right now, and we wanted to be really clear. It’s something I’ve been saying for a long time, but I think it was important that we be able to communicate directly with folks on the ground,” she said. “I think it’s successful. I think it’s important that we be out there with that message.”

Details on how much the trip cost were released only hours after Gov. Maura Healey banned migrants from sleeping at Logan Airport, where large groups have gathered for months to stay overnight.

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The directive takes effect July 9 and the state plans to offer people at the airport transportation to overflow shelter sites, including one that opened this week at a former prison in Norfolk.

Healey did not say if police would arrest those that violate the order.

“We’re going to take it as it comes. My hope is through the work that we’re doing and the extensive communication that we’re doing right now with folks, not just at the border, but folks who are in our service provider community, that we’re going to get people relocated,” she said Friday, “and also be clear to people who might think about coming here that this really is an option.”



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Massachusetts gas prices fell from last week: See how much here

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Massachusetts gas prices fell from last week: See how much here


Massachusetts gas prices fell for the second consecutive week and reached an average of $3.40 per gallon of regular fuel on Monday, down from last week’s price of $3.44 per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The average fuel price in the state has fallen about 11 cents since last month. According to the EIA, gas prices across the state in the last year have been as low as $3.07 on Jan. 29 and as high as $3.76 on Aug. 7, 2023.

A year ago, the average gas price in Massachusetts was 3% higher at $3.51 per gallon.

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>> INTERACTIVE: See how your area’s gas prices have changed over the years at data.capecodtimes.com.

The average gas price in the United States last week was $3.44, making prices in the state about 1% lower than the nation’s average. The average national gas price is up from last week’s average of $3.44 per gallon.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Please leave any feedback or corrections for this story here. This story was written by Ozge Terzioglu.



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