AS SENATE NEGOTIATORS in Washington edge closer to a deal on immigration, Gov. Maura Healey is signaling a willingness to support steps that restrict access to migrants at the border.
At a press availability with the state’s top legislative leaders on Monday, Healey reiterated her refrain that Congress must strike a deal on immigration and funnel federal dollars to states grappling with an influx of migrants.
Pressed on whether federal funding was the state’s primary goal in Washington, Senate President Karen Spilka indicated it was. But Healey, who had begun to exit the press conference, returned to the podium and argued forcefully for more than just money.
“We need DC to act. We need Congress to act,” she said. “The path is there in terms of what needs to be done to fix the border situation, to change some of the asylum processes, and get much needed funding to interior states who had to shoulder the burden for a problem that’s geopolitical and is not the state’s making. That is going to be my continued demand to Congress and the federal government. We need help here.”
The substance and tone of her remarks reflect a growing awareness that Massachusetts is no longer immune from the impact of immigration. A state that was largely oblivious to the problem before Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in September 2022 sent a planeload of Venezuelan immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard is now acutely aware of the human and financial cost of a porous border.
Healey and the Democratic governors of New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, and New Mexico sent a letter on Monday to President Biden and congressional leaders urging them to address the problem.
“We strongly urge Congress and the Administration to quickly negotiate an agreement on a border security legislative package that includes federal coordination and decompression at the southern and northern borders; federal funding for both border and interior states and cities receiving new arrivals; and a serious commitment to modernizing our immigration system in the United States,” the letter said.
The pressure from the governors and many others is propelling negotiations between Democrat and Republicans on Capitol Hill. Biden has indicated a willingness to bargain on border security and a bipartisan group of senators is trying to come up with an immigration compromise that can work for both sides and unlock aid desperately needed by Ukraine.
The New York Times reported on Monday that the rough outlines of a deal to reduce the number of migrants allowed to live and work in the country temporarily has been negotiated, but the funding needed to carry out the terms of that deal still needs to be hashed out.
The focus of the negotiations appears to center on how to tighten asylum laws and restrain the use of parole, which allows the federal government to grant migrants a special status to remain in the US. The Biden administration reportedly has used parole to assist roughly 1 million migrants from the Ukraine, Afghanistan, Haiti, Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua.
Healey appears to be paying close attention to the negotiations. In mid-December, she first broached her idea to tap $700 million in unused surplus funds from past years to deal with budget deficits associated with the state’s efforts to provide shelter to qualifying homeless families and pregnant women, nearly half of them migrants from outside the country. At the time, Healey said she planned to file legislation to tap the $700 million in the next few weeks, but nothing has been filed yet.
Spilka on Monday said an infusion of federal dollars might make it possible to avoid using the $700 million on the emergency shelter crisis. Healey said action in Washington is needed, both on funding and border reforms.
“The numbers that we’re seeing is exactly why we need Congress to act,” she said. “We need funding from the federal government. And we need reforms at the border. And I’ll continue to say that.”
