Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey recently took another reflexively anti-Trump stance that will put her state in danger. Under her administration, Healey announced that the Massachusetts State Police would refuse to cooperate with the incoming Trump administration if it attempted mass deportations of illegal immigrants.
“No, absolutely not,” Healey told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell last week when asked about cooperating. “I think that the key here is that every tool in the toolbox is going to be used to protect our citizens, to protect our residents, and protect our states, and certainly to hold the line on democracy and the rule of law as a basic principle.”
What a terrible approach.
Ironically, Healey herself has shattered the rule of law by making Massachusetts a magnet for illegal immigrants. Her administration has made community college free for illegal immigrants, made University of Massachusetts schools free for illegal immigrant families earning under $75,000 per year, and provided illegal immigrants in-state tuition at other four-year state colleges and universities. Healey also supports giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.
Additionally, Healey refuses to amend the state’s right-to-shelter law to include a residency requirement. As written, it provides free long-term hotel and motel stays to migrants who come to Massachusetts from many different countries, including illegal immigrants. The state spends so much on the program that Healey enacted emergency budget cuts last winter that, among other things, hit over 30 fire departments to help cover the high emergency shelter costs.
The results of these policies are devastating, and not just for the state budget. Under the Healey administration, child rapes committed by illegal immigrants happen often. Here are some press releases from Immigration and Customs Enforcement about recent incidents: “ERO Boston arrests Colombian citizen charged with sex crimes against a child,” on Nov. 1; “ERO Boston arrests Guatemalan national charged with rape, indecent assault and battery against Massachusetts minor,” on Oct. 25; “ERO Boston arrests Brazilian noncitizen charged with violent crimes against Massachusetts child,” on Oct. 22; and the list goes on.
A sensible governor would respond to such crimes by supporting heightened border security and reducing incentives for illegal immigrants to come to her state. A sensible governor would not respond by increasing government spending on illegal immigrants and telling illegal residents that law enforcement would refuse to cooperate with the Trump administration.
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However, being anti-Trump is how Healey makes a name for herself. She governs the most liberal state in America and rose to political prominence by suing the Trump administration 96 times as the state’s attorney general.
Massachusetts suffers from high housing and education costs, unreliable public transportation, and one of the worst drug problems in the country. Attacking President-elect Donald Trump provides Healey with a distraction from her administration’s shortcomings, even as her approach to illegal immigration betrays the financial and physical well-being of her constituents. Healey should do what benefits the American people, even if it means occasionally agreeing with Trump.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts.