BOSTON — A majority of Massachusetts voters don’t support the use of taxpayer dollars to pay for migrant housing, according to a new poll by a conservative group, which is renewing calls to update the state’s right-to-shelter law.
The poll, commissioned by the Fiscal Alliance Foundation, found that 53% of the 788 registered voters surveyed oppose the use of public funds to provide emergency housing for asylum seekers under the shelter law.
At least 90% of Republicans who responded to the poll said “no” when asked about taxpayer funding for migrant shelter, while 62% of unenrolled or “independent” voters opposed the spending. At least 30% of Democrats also oppose it, according to the poll.
“What is clear from this poll, the migrant crisis is at the forefront of voters’ minds and the solutions to date are not satisfactory,” the Fiscal Alliance’s spokesman Paul Craney said. “While the governor continues to spend valuable taxpayer money on the right to shelter benefits for newly arrived migrants, a majority of the voters disagree with this decision.”
A majority of those surveyed, or 79%, said they wouldn’t accept a migrant family into their home in response to a question about Gov. Maura Healey’s call for homeowners to “sponsor” asylum seekers in need of temporary housing.
Ninety-six percent of Republicans say they wouldn’t sponsor a migrant family, while 82% of unenrolled voters and 68% of Democrats said they also wouldn’t provide housing to migrants, pollsters said.
Massachusetts has seen an unprecedented influx of thousands of asylum seekers over the past year amid a historic surge of immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Healey declared a state of emergency in August and deployed the National Guard to help deal with the influx of migrants. Her administration also set a 7,500-family cap on the number of people eligible for emergency housing in October.
Under the “right-to-shelter” law, Massachusetts is required to provide emergency housing to homeless families, but critics say the law was never designed to provide for a large migrant population.
To date, the state has opened four large-scale “overflow” sites for families, including one at the Cass Recreational Complex, in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood. There are also smaller emergency shelter sites in hotels and motels in about 90 communities, including Salem, Methuen and Andover.
But more than 600 families are on a wait list for emergency housing, according to the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.
Healey has estimated that the state will spend up to $2 billion to support emergency shelter for homeless families and migrants through the end of the next fiscal year.
Despite requests from Healey and members of the state’s congressional delegation for federal funding, the Biden administration has only provided about $2 million to the state for emergency shelter and other migrant needs.
But Healey has also refused to consider changes to the right to shelter law, arguing that other states without similar policies are also seeing large numbers of migrants.
Republicans and conservative groups also argue that the state’s hodgepodge of “sanctuary” policies are encouraging migrants to relocate to the state.
The number of people encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border last month was expected to exceed 300,000, a record high, according to the latest Department of Homeland Security figures.
The poll found nearly 65% of voters blame President Joe Biden and Congress for inaction on the migrant crisis. But pollsters say the data also shows that Healey’s favorability has taken a hit as the migrant crisis drags on.
“Voters may blame Washington for the migrant crisis but they are not satisfied with some of the policies being proposed on the state level for how to deal with the issue,” Craney said.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com