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GOP Challengers Slam Healey Over Migrant Motel Debacle — She Stands by Her Record and Eyes Re-Election

Monday, July 7, 2025
4 min read
MDN Staff
GOP Challengers Slam Healey Over Migrant Motel Debacle — She Stands by Her Record and Eyes Re-Election

After housing sex offenders in motels, draining the surplus, and blaming everyone but herself, Healey says she deserves four more years.

BOSTON — The motels are empty. The headlines, not so much.
Governor Maura Healey’s now-defunct migrant shelter initiative — dubbed “Healey Hotels” by critics — may have shut its doors, but the fallout is far from over. What began as an “emergency housing solution” spiraled into scandal, criminal charges, and a price tag north of $2 billion.
Among the lowlights? A 15-year-old girl allegedly raped in one of the state-run motels. Registered sex offenders quietly housed alongside families. All of it paid for by Massachusetts taxpayers.
Yet despite the chaos, Healey insists she’s done nothing wrong — and is asking voters for four more years.

What really happened at the “Healey Hotels”?

At the Comfort Inn in Rockland — one of several facilities converted into shelters — a Haitian migrant was charged with raping a 15-year-old girl with disabilities. Weeks later, a Boston Globe investigation found multiple convicted sex offenders were living or working in other state-run shelters, including locations housing children.
Officials called them oversights. Critics called them a pattern.
No-bid contracts, questionable vendors, $140 cab fares, and near-zero transparency plagued the program. The administration finally shut down the hotel shelters — but only after weeks of bad headlines and rising public pressure.

The money didn’t stop — it just moved

While the “Healey Hotels” may be shuttered, the spending has continued. Now, migrants are being placed in taxpayer-funded apartments across the Commonwealth — quietly, and without much explanation.

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The state has spent over $2 billion across two fiscal years. The surplus? Gone. The rainy day fund? Being tapped. The results? Still unclear.
Then Healey appeared on Keller at Large, waved off criticism, and insisted she’s “all for getting the bad guys.”
She’s also running for re-election.

Critics aren’t buying it

Pressed on the migrant scandal, Healey pointed elsewhere. She blamed the Trump administration, took shots at former Governor Charlie Baker, and framed the issue as a matter of compassion — not competence.
“I’m all for getting the bad guys,” Healey told WBZ.
But according to her critics, she’s been housing them.

The challengers circle

Republican hopefuls Brian Shortsleeve and Mike Kennealy have made the migrant crisis a campaign centerpiece.
Shortsleeve accused Healey of allowing “countless preventable violent crimes” through weak enforcement and zero cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Kennealy, a former Baker cabinet member, warned that Massachusetts is veering toward “California-style chaos,” and has called for an end to policies that shield criminal illegal immigrants from deportation.
Healey, for her part, has brushed off both men as alarmists — doubling down on her claim that Massachusetts is safe, stable, and well-managed.

Healey: “We’re the safest state”

According to Healey, Massachusetts leads the nation in safety — citing low gun deaths and property crime.
But critics say that doesn’t reflect what’s happening on the ground. A teenage girl raped in a state-run shelter. Convicted sex offenders living alongside children. $2 billion gone with nothing to show for it.
Still, Healey says she’s “proud” of her record — and wants four more years.

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