It just acts like one. It’s instead a sort of haven, or heaven, for immigrants, illegal or otherwise, who have flocked here seeking refuge and welfare.
Just don’t call it a sanctuary.
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“We are not a sanctuary state,” Healey said following raids by President Donald Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan, and ICE last week in which some 370 wanted “illegal aliens” –including drug dealers, gun runners, murderers and rapists—were rounded up in Boston and across the state.
The newcomers to Massachusetts, with good reason, apparently thought otherwise.
And why not? Under Healey the state is spending billions of taxpayer dollars for the caring of the influx of immigrants from around the world who have sought sanctuary, or refuge, in the state. This includes free housing, food, medical care, cell phones, transportation, schooling and so on.
Only the other day Healey’s Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Lauren Jones told a State House committee hearing that Healey is seeking to spend $30 million to teach adult immigrants English under a program called English for Speakers of Other Languages.
The same committee is considering a companion bill creating a state funded Immigrant Legal Defense Fund that would provide lawyers for immigrants who face deportation, including those held in federal detention centers.
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But Healey may have a point, shaky as it is. The state is not Boston, which with its Boston Trust Act which makes it a sanctuary city.
The act prohibits Boston cops from making arrests of illegal immigrants or holding them based on ICE immigration detainers. The cops are also prohibited from even asking people about their immigration status.
Even though the act does not apply to the state, a 2017 decision by the Supreme Judicial Court does apply by making Massachusetts a safe harbor for migrants wanted by ICE— or at least it did before Homan came to town.
The court held that the state court officers are not legally permitted to arrest or hold immigrants wanted by ICE on detainers. The ruling is interpreted to apply to all state and local law enforcement officials as well.
If that does not make Massachusetts a sanctuary state, then perhaps the loose interpretation, or outright ignoring, by the Healey administration of the state’s so-called “Right to Shelter” law, does.
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This is the 1983 law (ACT 1983. Chap. 45, Section 1) that was passed to deal with the state’s homeless problem which back then was small compared to today.
The law, signed by Gov. Michael Dukakis, limited the eligibility for welfare benefits only to “residents” of the state.
It says that “any such person who enters the Commonwealth solely for the purposes of obtaining benefits under this chapter shall not be considered a resident.”
This accounts why progressives like Healey, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Attorney General Andrea Campbell call immigrants “residents”’ even if they just crashed into the state and were sleeping at Logan Airport or checking in at one of Healey’s hotels.
Healey, the progressive that she is, had no choice when the alternative was to send many of the illegal immigrants arriving from around the world back to their home countries..
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No progressive with a heart would dare suggest a thing, even if it could be done.
So that left President Trump, who the progressives hate, to clean up the mess that Joe Biden left behind when he opened the borders and waved millions of unvetted immigrants into the country, criminals included.
Governors like Healey, instead of attacking Trump, should be thanking him for shutting down the border, ending the immigrant invasion, and deporting the violent immigrant criminals living in the state committing horrendous crimes.
Instead, Healey, Wu and Campbell all planned to thwart the president.
Campbell even said, “Bring it on.” So, Trump did.
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As Heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
Veteran political reporter Peter Lucas can be reached at: peter.lucas@bostonherald.comGov. Maura Healey insists Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state, despite an immigration crackdown by border czar Tom Homan. (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald, File)
Courtesy/DEA
Boston-based agents with ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations unit stand with multiple illegal immigrants they arrested on Nantucket earlier this month. (Courtesy/DEA, File)
A Massachusetts police department is mourning the death of one of its own after an officer was struck and killed while attempting to assist a broken-down driver on a highway.
The Uxbridge Police Department has hung black bunting above its main entrance as it receives condolences from across the Bay State following the incident early Wednesday morning.
The crash unfolded at about 12:45 a.m., when the officer was trying to help a motorist in the northbound lanes of Route 146, a main artery in the Worcester County town that borders Rhode Island.
Authorities identified the fallen officer on Wednesday afternoon as Stephen Laporta, 43, of Uxbridge. The Massachusetts State Police is investigating the crash.
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“This is a devastating loss for our department and our community,” Police Chief Marc Montminy said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the officer’s family, loved ones, and fellow officers during this incredibly difficult time.”
Gov. Maura Healey has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at all state buildings in honor of LaPorta.
“I am heartbroken over the news of Officer Stephen LaPorta’s passing,” the governor said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “He knew he was headed into a dangerous situation when he responded to the scene of a multi-vehicle crash, but like all of our officers do day in and day out, he put the public’s safety first – and he tragically made the ultimate sacrifice.”
Authorities closed Route 146 for hours after the crash, with investigators working the scene. The icy, frozen road reopened around 10 a.m.
Uxbridge First Holy Night, a community organization, offered its condolences to the department via social media, saying the loss is also felt “across our entire town.”
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“Our officers are more than public servants — they are neighbors, friends, parents, children, and family,” the group stated. “When one of our own falls, we all grieve together.”
“Uxbridge is a close-knit community,” it added, “and in moments like this, we lean on one another. May we surround this family and our police department with compassion, strength, and support in the days ahead.”
Police departments from across the region sent cruisers to participate in a procession that accompanied a vehicle carrying LaPorta’s body to a medical examiner’s office before daybreak.
The Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association described the officer as a “fallen hero” and the death as “heartbreaking news.”
“Another police officer killed in the line of duty. This time in Uxbridge,” the association stated in a social media post. “The officer was involved in a motor vehicle crash while attempting to assist a motorist on Rte. 146 early this morning. Our thoughts and prayers are with the officer’s family and the entire Uxbridge Police Department during this incredibly difficult time.”
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State Rep. Mike Soter, whose Central Massachusetts district includes Uxbridge, said his “heart sank” when learning of the death.
“This is so close to home,” he said in a Facebook post. “May GOD watch over this officer’s family and his fellow officers today as they need our strength as a community. May the officer’s memory be eternal always!”
In June 2024, the Uxbridge Police Department celebrated LaPorta’s promotion to full-time patrolman.
“He may seem familiar to you all because Ofc. LaPorta has already been actively serving our wonderful town as a full-time Dispatcher and working part-time patrol shifts,” the department stated in a Facebook post. “He has put in the work to switch his role up and come to the patrol side full time! Let’s give him a warm congrats Uxy!”
Uxbridge Police Department (Herald file photo)
Massachusetts fire officials are warning bars, restaurants, and nightclubs that sparklers and other pyrotechnic devices pose a serious fire risk and are illegal to use without professional licensing, following a deadly New Year’s Eve fire in Switzerland that killed 40 people.
State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine sent a notice Tuesday to businesses across the state reminding them that sparklers — including so-called “cold spark” pyrotechnics often marketed for celebrations — are prohibited unless businesses have the required licensing, certification, and permits, according to a statement from Davine’s office.
“This includes small sparklers that have been sold as novelties or party favors to accompany champagne bottles, which are believed to have caused the New Year’s Eve fire that claimed 40 lives,” Davine said in the statement.
The warning comes after investigators said sparklers likely contributed to a New Year’s Eve fire at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, that injured more than 100 people in addition to the dozens killed.
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The notice was distributed to local licensing authorities by the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission and shared with restaurant owners statewide by the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, Davine said.
Separately, the state Department of Fire Services issued a notice to a Florida-based company, King of Sparklers LLC, after sparklers it allegedly sold online were recovered by Fall River fire inspectors at a local establishment, the fire marshal’s office said. Officials said shipping such products into the state violates state law and the Massachusetts Comprehensive Fire Code.
Fire officials said sparklers burn at temperatures exceeding 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit and throw off sparks capable of igniting decorations, furnishings, and other flammable materials. Even after they appear extinguished, sparklers can remain hot enough to start fires, officials said.
Davine pointed to a 2022 incident in Dracut, where the improper disposal of illegal sparklers sparked a three-alarm fire that displaced nine residents.
Sparklers are classified as fireworks under state law, meaning their possession, sale, and use require professional licensing and certification, the Department of Fire Services said.
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Davine said the tragedy in Switzerland echoed memories of the 2003 Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, R.I., which killed 100 people and injured more than 200 others. The fire prompted sweeping safety reforms in Rhode Island as well as Massachusetts.
The Rhode Island fire was sparked during a concert when a band’s pyrotechnics ignited the sound-proofing foam near the stage, and the flames licked their way up the wall. It took a moment for the crowd to realize what was happening, but within 90 seconds after the fire ignited people stampeded toward the front entrance and were crushed, the Globe reported.
“The tragic fire in Switzerland has a chilling similarity to the Station Nightclub fire in Rhode Island, which led to numerous safety reforms in Massachusetts bars and clubs,” Davine said in the statement Tuesday. “We just want to help these businesses keep their patrons and staff safe.”
Rhode Island State Fire Marshal Tim McLaughlin also recalled the Station nightclub fire in the wake of the Swiss blaze.
“It’s almost eerie to think about it — the similarities between the two,” McLaughlin told WPRI-TV this week. “It was something I never thought I’d see again.”
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Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com.
Seatbelt usage in Massachusetts increased in 2025 for the third consecutive year, “marking the state’s highest seat belt usage rate on record,” officials said in a release this week.
The annual Massachusetts Safety Belt Observational Study found belt usage rate of 85.53 percent among the state’s drivers last year, up from 84.36 percent in 2024 and 80 percent in 2023, according to the Healey-Driscoll administration.
The increase in seatbelt usage last year corresponded with a lower rate of fatal crashes, with 342 reported in the state in 2025 compared to 364 in 2024, said a statement from the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security on Monday.
“We know that seat belts save lives, and it’s so important that seat belt usage continues to increase every year in Massachusetts,” said Governor Maura Healey, a Democrat, in the statement. “We’re grateful for the hard work of our partners in transportation, public safety and local governments to enhance safety on the roads for us all.”
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The governor’s words were echoed in the statement by her number two, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll.
“Whether you’re a driver or passenger, one of the most important things you can do to protect your safety is to buckle your seat belt,” Driscoll said. “This study shows that we’ve made progress in increasing the safety of road users.”
The annual study is required by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, according to the statement, which said seat belt usage in Massachusetts has increased by more than 10 percent since 2015.
“Everyone has a role to play in keeping our roads safe, and wearing a seat belt is one of the simplest steps we can take to protect ourselves and the people we care about,” said Gina K. Kwon, the state’s public safety and security boss, in the release.
“When drivers and passengers buckle up every time, they help prevent serious injuries and make travel safer for families and communities across the Commonwealth,” Kwon said.
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Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.
