A former migrant shelter director in Massachusetts described the chaos he saw under the state’s right-to-shelter laws, saying that the influx of illegal immigrants has clogged the state’s infrastructure and that there is virtually no vetting for the surge of border crossers. 

Massachusetts spent nearly $1.1 billion of taxpayers’ money this fiscal year to house and feed migrants streaming into the state, often in hotels that have been converted to shelters. However, taxpayers have at times found themselves boxed out of shelters as immigrants have crowded the system and taken priority, said Jon Fetherston, who acted as a migrant shelter director at the Marlborough Holiday Inn between November 2023 and July of last year.

Under its right-to-shelter law, established in 1983, the state must provide housing for displaced families and pregnant women. In 2023, the state’s shelters reached their capacity of 7,500 enrolled families – yet migrants continue to use Massachusetts’ programs. 

Fetherston previously detailed the repeated violent incidents and mistreatment of children he saw during his tenure – and decried a lack of consequences for their perpetrators. 

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey held a press conference announcing significant action related to the state’s emergency shelter system. (Photo by Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

“She is saying this now, in an attempt to get [this] out of the news, and then have someone to blame when the reform doesn’t happen,” Fetherston said. 

Healey’s office could not be reached for comment at press time.

Fetherston said he has had to turn away American citizens who had fallen on hard times amid the chaos at the state’s migrant shelters.

“I would have veterans walk up to the shelter, [saying] ‘I am a Vietnam veteran, I just need a room for tonight.’ And I would say, ‘I’m sorry. This is for migrants. All the public is not allowed. This is for migrants only,'” he recalled.

“I wasn’t always able to find, you know, a homeless veteran a place on a cold night. But we’ve got migrants,” he continued. “And once again, I don’t blame them living in a shelter where everything’s free for three free meals, free dry cleaning, free Ubers, has a roof over your head, free health care. And I’m sending a decorated veteran out into the cold. At least half a dozen times I had to do that.”

He also said that, although there are technically limitations to how long one can stay in the state’s shelters, they are not always enforced, and spots for citizens in need are not made available.

“You can’t blame the people who stepped up and tried to do their job. You have to blame the system and the person running the system for not putting checks and balances,” Fetherston said. “The governor had no plan and she just wanted to get these shelters open… Nobody specializes in this – Massachusetts is the only state in the entire nation that has the right to shelter. So it’s fair to say, well, they didn’t have qualified people. Well, nobody’s qualified for this because nobody’s ever had to experience this.”