Migrants to learn why so many leaving Massachusetts

When it comes to the migrant influx, Massachusetts’ ship of state has a hole in the bottom, and Gov. Maura Healey has been frantically bailing for months.

Up to now, it’s been about money: how much is needed, how quickly it is spent, where to get more, and what to do when it runs out. But the Healey Administration has been working on the next step for the migrants and homeless in the state’s full-to-bursting emergency shelter system.

As the Herald reported, eight resettlement agencies have signed $10.5 million worth of contracts with the state to move 400 migrant families out of state-run shelters and into stable housing by the end of the year. kicking off a program the Healey administration hopes will free up shelter space, according to state officials.

Healey has also worked to expedite work permits to help people transition into long-term housing. One question: what housing? When those living in shelters get ready to exit the system, they’ll find themselves in the same boat as the rest of Massachusetts residents: housing costs are huge, and there aren’t enough units.

According to data released in January by the nonprofit group Housing Navigator Massachusetts, the state has tens of thousands fewer affordable homes than reflected in its official inventory. While Healey and mayors across the state have targeted affordable housing as a problem in desperate need of solution, residents are voting with their feet.

Massachusetts ranked on the list of the “Most Moved From States” according to the 2023 National Movers Study released by United Van Lines. Reports cite high housing costs and insufficient supply among the reasons driving the exit strategy.

So even when migrants get work authorizations and land jobs, they’ll run smack into the same wall hitting other Bay State housing-hunters. Forget about Boston, where the average rent is a little north of $3,800, according to RentCafe. An apartment in Worcester is about $1,650 on average, according to apartments. com. You’ll need to earn about $66,000 a year to afford it.

That’s the rub of living in Massachusetts: Even if you can find a place, you have to be able to pay the rent. And that’s without utilities, food and other expenses.

Migrant families are being set up to fail.

What’s missing, indeed what’s been AWOL from the onset, is national immigration organization. It’s not just about processing claims, checking asylum status and weeding out criminals for deportation — migrants should get the full picture of which states have jobs for which they’re qualified and where they can find affordable housing.

Massachusetts has been a migrant magnet thanks to issuing drivers licenses regardless of immigration status and our right to shelter law, but that’s where the bloom of the Bay State falls off the rose.

It’s expensive here, from housing to food and other necessities. And those seeking jobs and affordable places to stay are competing with countless others doing the same, including a fresh batch of college grads every summer.

Shelter funding and work authorization assistance is just part of the big picture, one that isn’t Healey’s to solve.

Joe Biden dropped the ball. It’s up to his administration to make real changes at our border, and in the way we handle resettling immigrants.