How the immigration debate is roiling Mass. politics

To appreciate how potent the immigration issue has become in Massachusetts, consider the rise of state Sen. Peter Durant.

The Spencer Republican served as a representative for more than a decade before winning last November's special election for the senate seat representing the Worcester and Hampshire district. Durant said his campaign initially focused on "bread and butter issues" many in his party care about, including taxes, local aid and gun rights.

But as the number of migrants arriving in Massachusetts began to climb, stretching state resources and prompting Gov. Maura Healey to cap the number of families in the state's emergency shelter system, Durant made immigration a central issue in his campaign.

"As soon as the migrant crisis started to take off, that was all anyone wanted to talk about," he said. "They were expressing their frustration, so that quickly became the dominant theme of the election."

Durant was the first Republican to win a special election in Massachusetts since 2017. And he's continuing to embrace a hard line on immigration, taking a page from the book politicians on the national stage are using to woo voters.

Susan Tracy, a Democratic political strategist in Boston, is concerned that this wave of immigrants — and the challenges facing newly arrived families — are being exploited for political gain.

"I do think it's appalling that you have governors in red states sending people to other states just to make a political statement," Tracy said, referring to Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas, who have bused and flown thousands of migrants to cities in blue states.

Border security and immigration are now daily headlines in this presidential election year. That was especially true after House Republicans in Washington, urged on by former President Trump, killed a bipartisan immigration deal earlier this month that had been worked out in the Senate. The result means little help is coming from Washington to ease the pressures being felt not just in red border states — but in blue states like Massachusetts.

Emotions are running hot, even among Democrats who aren't typically drawn into immigration battles. Last week, in fiery testimony on Beacon Hill, Healey slammed Republicans in Washington for killing the immigration bill, which would have reformed the asylum process and sent tens of millions of dollars to states like Massachusetts.

"I've called the White House. I've called Congress. I've called our delegation," Healey said. "If anyone has a way to get through to Republicans in Congress to stop playing politics and move on for the betterment of this country, we can solve this issue today."

The state's federal delegation, made up entirely of Democrats, is torn between backing President Biden's efforts at compromise on the border, and addressing the surging need at home for resources to house and employ immigrants and educate their children.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey did not respond to requests for comment.

Among Massachusetts residents, sentiment around immigration is mixed. The state has an unusual "right to shelter" law that promises housing for families in need, including recently arrived migrants with children. A recent CommonWealth Beacon poll found that three quarters of respondents support the law, but when asked if Massachusetts "should welcome people facing persecution and violence elsewhere," people were roughly split, with many of them saying, "I don't know."

"There's a lot of nuance and ambiguity around people's views of this particular issue," said Steve Koczela, president of the MassINC Polling Group, which conducted the poll.

In October, Healey declared the state would no longer guarantee shelter to more than 7,500 families at any given time, and the state instituted a wait list. Three overflow sites were established, and officials ramped up the hunt for a fourth in January, when as many as 200 migrants, including young children, were sleeping on the floor at Logan Airport.

The location they settled on, the Melnea Cass Recreational Complex in Roxbury, sparked controversy in the neighborhood: It was the first time officials had taken over a building that's widely used, instead of an empty facility, for this purpose. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu voiced her unhappiness about using the center temporarily to shelter up to 400 people, calling it unfair to Roxbury. But she had to relent because the facility is owned by the state.

On the day city and state officials toured the Cass complex, as immigrants prepared to move in, a small group of protestors gathered outside, chanting, "Shame on Healey, shame on Wu." The group included people from across the political spectrum; Shawn Nelson, a Boston resident and anti-vaccine activist who's been arrested for fighting and disturbing the peace, stood by a sign that read, "Why Roxbury? Try Wellesley!"

Nelson said accommodating the immigrants in Roxbury takes away resources from his community. He was particularly irked that the migrants get "housing, food and healthcare for free," while citizens like him "get bumped to the end of the line."

"We're tired of this," he said. "This has not only been going on in Massachusetts, but it's also happening all around the country."

Inside the Cass center, surrounded by Roxbury's political and community leaders, Healey said the plan to take over the rec center was temporary but necessary.

"We're here today because we really don't have a choice," Healey said.

Cities from Denver to Chicago to New York are struggling to provide shelter and work for thousands of new immigrants. In New York, immigration became a dominant issue in the race Democrat Tom Suozzi won Tuesday night over Republican Mazi Pilip, to succeed disgraced former Congressman George Santos. Unlike many Democrats, Suozzi leaned into immigration, responding to voter concerns while promising to work with Republicans in Congress to secure the border. His victory narrows the already thin Republican majority in the House and follows a campaign that many observers saw as a model for Democrats as they head toward the November election.

In Massachusetts, Geoff Diehl, a Republican who has lost bids for the state Senate, the U.S. Senate and a 2022 campaign for governor, is now placing immigration front and center in his run for the Republican State Committee. In a recent fundraising letter, Diehl attacked Healey for closing the Roxbury community center "for the purpose of housing more illegal immigrants."

Healey has said the new immigrants, many of them fleeing strife in Haiti, came to the United States legally. Still, providing emergency shelter services across the state — including for immigrants, who make up roughly half the people in need — will cost the state nearly a billion dollars in the coming fiscal year, according to the administration. And with the collapse of the bill in Washington, migrants will continue to arrive, Healey has said, and costs will continue to rise.

Durant called that a "huge problem," and said, "It's our tax dollars that are being sucked up and it's our residents who are being affected by this."

He favors changing the 40-year-old right-to-shelter law so that it benefits only state residents, or only families that have resided in Massachusetts for a certain amount of time. He acknowledged that denying the benefit to immigrants may sound harsh, but said the alternative is signing a blank check and allowing a growing emergency to overwhelm the state.

"Once you cut off the benefits, people will no longer have an incentive to come here," Durant said. "And even many of those who are here will have to go and find someplace else to go."

Immigrant advocates counter that the right-to-shelter law reflects an important value: that all families in the state deserve a roof over their heads. Tracy, the Democratic strategist, said punishing migrants seeking a better life is wrong. And she said Republicans who politicize the immigration problem "would very much like it to be the only issue we talk about."

"Because they don't want to talk about an improving economy, reducing inflation or abortion rights being taken away from people," she said.

But without a solution from Washington, the immigration debate will likely continue to play a big role in national and local politics in this presidential election year.