THE COST OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IN MASSACHUSETTS

In August 2023, Governor Maura Healey declared a state of emergency over the migrant shelter crisis. Since then, Massachusetts taxpayers have been forced to fund an emergency shelter system that has consumed over $1 billion in state resources.

In FY2024, the legislature appropriated $219 million. The actual spend was $894 million. They blew through the budget by 4x and sent you the bill.

Sources: Massachusetts EOHLC, Mass.gov FY25 budget line 70040101, Mass Fiscal Alliance, Boston Globe, CBS Boston I-Team

WHO GOT RICH

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio audited the Emergency Assistance shelter system (July 2021 – June 2024) and found “improper and unlawful” use of emergency procurement to award no-bid contracts worth tens of millions. Here is where your money went:

Total no-bid contracts documented above: $92+ million. No competitive bidding. No oversight. Your money.

Sources: Mass.gov State Auditor shelter audit (May 2025), Boston Globe, CBS Boston I-Team, WBUR

THE CAPE COD CONNECTION: $6.8 MILLION TO A SENATOR’S NEIGHBOR

Mercedes Cab / Pilgrim Transit is not some Boston outfit. It is owned by Raphael Richter of Truro, Massachusetts — population 2,000. Richter is a former Provincetown Select Board member and current Vice-Chair of the Truro Finance Committee. He lives in the same small town as State Senator Julian Cyr.

Senator Cyr chairs the Joint Committee on Housing — the legislative committee that oversees EOHLC, the very state agency that awarded Richter’s company the $6.8 million no-bid contract. OCPF campaign finance records show Richter donated $1,500 directly to Cyr’s campaign. Richter’s COO, David Panagore — a former Provincetown Town Manager and former MBTA executive — donated another $600+ to Cyr while employed at Mercedes Cab.

The contract was signed on October 13, 2023 — two months BEFORE EOHLC posted a public Request for Response on December 15. They awarded the contract first, then pretended to solicit bids after the fact. The State Auditor called it “improper and unlawful.” EOHLC could not explain how Mercedes Cab was selected.

NOT ONE CAPE COD OFFICIAL CALLED THIS OUT

We checked every public statement from every member of the Cape Cod delegation. Representatives Xiarhos, Vieira, Flanagan, Diggs, Luddy, Moakley — and Senator Fernandes. Some criticized shelter spending in general terms. Not one named Richter. Not one named the contract. Not one asked how a Truro company got $6.8 million from the agency their colleague oversees.

Richter’s companies donated across party lines — including to Representative Luddy ($750 from Richter + Panagore combined). When everyone takes the money, nobody asks the questions.

This is not representation. This is a club. And you are not in it. But you are paying for it.

Sources: Mass.gov State Auditor Finding 5 (May 2025), OCPF campaign finance records (voterdb verified), Cape Destinations team page, Cape Cod Times, GBH, WBUR, Boston Globe. All donation amounts are public record.

THE COST TO CAPE COD

While state politicians debate ideology, Cape Cod communities absorb the real costs:

The Yarmouth Resort story is instructive. Ashok Patel — the same hotel operator who collected $35 million statewide in no-bid shelter contracts — attempted to convert a Route 28 motel into an 80-100 room migrant shelter. Management raised weekly rents from $300 to $700 to push out existing tenants in anticipation of the state contract. The plan was halted only because residents showed up and fought back.

Cape Cod already has the worst housing crisis in its history. Median home prices have doubled since 2019. Year-round rentals are effectively nonexistent. Working families who grew up here cannot afford to stay. And the state government’s response is to send more people who need housing to a region that has none.

Sources: CAI/WCAI, CapeCod.com, Hyannis News, Barnstable County homeless count data

BENEFITS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS

Massachusetts provides the following taxpayer-funded benefits to individuals residing in the state illegally:

• Emergency shelter — right-to-shelter state, one of only two in the nation (with New York)
• MassHealth — ConnectorCare and Health Safety Net cover non-citizens regardless of immigration status
• Public education (K-12) — guaranteed by Plyler v. Doe (1982), funded by local property taxes
• In-state tuition — available at all public colleges and universities
• Driver’s licenses — Work and Family Mobility Act (2023), passed over Governor Baker’s veto
• Emergency Assistance (EA) — cash benefits for families with children
• EBT/SNAP equivalent benefits — food assistance programs
• Legal representation — state-funded immigration attorneys through SCCLS and similar organizations

Meanwhile, a working Cape Cod family earning $75,000 per year qualifies for almost nothing. Too rich for assistance. Too poor for the housing market. Paying for everything listed above through their taxes.

THE MASSACHUSETTS EXODUS

People are leaving Massachusetts at an accelerating rate. The reasons are not mysterious:

• Massachusetts lost a congressional seat after the 2020 Census due to population loss relative to other states
• Net domestic outmigration: tens of thousands of residents leaving annually for New Hampshire, Florida, Texas, and the Carolinas
• Cost of living ranks among the top 5 most expensive states in the nation
• Property tax burden on Cape Cod is among the highest in the state
• The people leaving are working-age taxpayers. The people arriving are consuming public services.

Every family that leaves takes their tax revenue with them. Every illegal immigrant that arrives adds to the cost. The math is not complicated. The politicians just hope you are not paying attention.

FEDERAL FUNDING AT RISK

Sanctuary policies carry real financial consequences. The federal government has repeatedly demonstrated willingness to withhold funding from non-cooperative jurisdictions:

Yarmouth receives federal grants for law enforcement, infrastructure, and community development. A symbolic sanctuary vote signals non-cooperation with federal immigration authorities. That signal has financial consequences.

THE NONPROFIT PIPELINE

Organizations that advocate for sanctuary and immigrant-friendly policies are the same organizations that receive government contracts to service the migrants those policies attract. More migrants = more funding = more advocacy for more migrants. It is a self-feeding machine:

Massachusetts lawmakers run their own nonprofits. Lobbyists face a $200 campaign contribution limit — but can donate unlimited amounts to lawmaker-affiliated nonprofits. This creates an untraceable channel for shelter contractors and service providers to influence the legislators who control shelter appropriations.

The people who advocate for the policies are the same people who get paid when the policies are enacted. Follow the money.

Sources: Mass.gov AG immigrant legal services grants, GBH News, Boston Globe (lobbyist nonprofit loophole, April 2025), ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer

WHO IS BEHIND THE PETITION

The sanctuary ballot question was not filed by concerned Yarmouth residents. It was organized by Rev. Susan Gregory-Davis, who retired from a church in Meriden, New Hampshire and moved to Yarmouth in June 2024.

Her documented record spans 38 years:

• Three arrests across three states (Washington DC, Connecticut, New Hampshire)
• Declared her New Hampshire church a “Sanctuary Congregation” in 2017
• Signed a national clergy letter calling to defund ICE and CBP (2018)
• Co-presented a UCC resolution labeling Israel an “apartheid state” (2021, passed 462-78)
• Led weekly BLM/racial justice vigils for nine consecutive years (2015-2024)
• Registered to vote in Yarmouth: August 2024
• Filed sanctuary petition: March 2026

Of the 35 petition signatories: 22 are registered Democrats, 13 are Unenrolled, and zero are Republicans. The median age is 73. Six registered to vote in 2024 or 2025. Nine signed as household pairs from the same address. Nearly half live in a single precinct.

This is not a community movement. This is an organized political operation by a small group of transplants with a decades-long activist agenda.