A Former director of a migrant shelter in Massachusetts He described the chaos he saw under the state's right-to-shelter laws, saying the influx of illegal immigrants has clogged the state's infrastructure and that there is virtually no checking on the influx of border crossers.
Massachusetts has spent nearly $1.1 billion in taxpayer money this fiscal year to house and feed migrants flocking to the state, often in hotels that have been converted into shelters. However, taxpayers sometimes found themselves trapped outside shelters as migrants crowded the system and took priority, said John Featherstone, who worked as migrant shelter manager at the Marlborough Holiday Inn between November 2023 and July last year.
Under the Right to Shelter Law, passed in 1983, the state must provide housing for displaced families and pregnant women. In 2023, the state's shelters reach their capacity of 7,500 registered families – so far. Immigrants continue to use Massachusetts programs.
Featherstone Repeated incidents of violence have previously been detailed and the abuse of children he saw during his tenure – and he decried the lack of consequences for their perpetrators.
Illegal immigrants line the floors of the terminal at Boston Logan Airport as shelters in Massachusetts are overrun. (WBZ)
In the light of a man of dominican republic, Who was accused of possessing an AR-15 and $1 million worth of fentanyl in a state-backed room last month in Revere, Featherstone explained the vetting process — or lack thereof — in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Leonardo Andujar Sanchez, 28, was arrested Dec. 27 after his girlfriend called Revere police to report drugs and a long black gun hidden under a pink suitcase in their hotel room. The woman told police she had been living at the Quality Inn for three months, and that she and Sanchez got the room through a refugee program.
“I've worked at this shelter for a very limited time,” Featherstone told Fox News Digital. “You can't hide an AR-15 in that room. You can't hide drugs in that room. The rooms aren't big… The case manager there should have stood… There should have been red flags… to say 'Hey,' Listen, this guy doesn't attend those meetings. This guy is ruining housekeeping.
Meshach Little of Northell Wilkeston security walks the perimeter of the main living area at the state's emergency migrant shelter in the Melnia A complex. Entertainment cup. (Craig F. Walker/Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Featherstone said the incident was just another example of the lack of security and scrutiny in the state's strained migrant facilities.
The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, which oversees the state's shelter program, told Fox News Digital that it has security guards at each facility and conducts forensic checks every 30 days. However, Featherstone did not see this activity during his tenure.
“I will tell you that all the shelters I've worked at and volunteered (in) have some form of security. But… it's basically a person sitting at a desk – no better than if you were in a corporate office complex… Certainly not the level of security you need in this “The shelters… I've never seen anyone come in and execute a search warrant.”
He said the staff at the shelters were chosen primarily because of the languages they spoke and not because of any kind of experience.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Massachusetts Governor Maura Haley, right, visit the Melnia A. Campus. The Recreational Cass, which was used to house more than 300 immigrants. (John Tlumacki/Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“You're just hiring people because they can speak the language you need, either they're Haitian or, you know, Portuguese or Spanish. So you're not necessarily hiring a qualified caseworker or a mental health advocate or someone who has experience dealing with these things because,” he said. These people don't exist.”
“Often…case managers became sympathetic to their fellow citizens when they taught them how to navigate the system and not always in the most ethical ways. That's where chaos ensued.”
At the same time, he said, there was “a tremendous amount of domestic violence…a tremendous amount of violence toward children (and) a tremendous amount of violence toward their fellow citizens.”
Featherstone said friends and relatives of the alleged residents were constantly passing through the facility where he worked. Despite policies regarding residents entering through security, staffing was so limited that keeping track of people coming in and out was nearly impossible.
Pictured are items allegedly found in the possession of Leonardo Andujar Sanchez when he was arrested at a migrant shelter in Revere, Massachusetts, on December 27. (Aero Boston)
“(River's arrest) “It hit the hot spot (for me) from day three, maybe, of being in the shelter,” Featherstone said. “Who is this? … I didn't check them. I didn't see them when they came. Who are they? … How did he get past this guy? 'Well, this is so-and-so's uncle.'
He said that often families “disappear” — with housekeeping reporting no family in their room for three or four days. He would receive calls about residents showing up at the facility, never arriving, or someone whose identity didn't match at all.
Since the Supreme Court ruling in November last year, after Featherstone left the shelter, shelters are not allowed to ask families for proof of identity or documentation when they apply for the short-term shelter program.
This distinction makes Democrats, he said Governor Maura Healey's final call Further screening of emergency shelter residents to ensure they are in the United States legally is, with rare exceptions, impossible.
“I believe these changes are appropriate and necessary to ensure the long-term sustainability of the state shelter system in a manner consistent with the original intent of the law,” Healey said in a statement. “Additionally, these proposed changes will allow us to continue ensuring the integrity of our system, support cities and towns in meeting the needs of unhoused families in their communities and put us on the path toward a more financially sustainable shelter system.”
“She can say it will increase checks, but how do you screen someone who doesn't have an ID? She also wants immigrants to identify themselves if they have crimes committed “In the past, that wouldn't happen,” Featherstone said.
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Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey held a press conference announcing important actions related to the state's emergency shelter system. (Photo by Jonathan Wiggs/Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“She's saying this now, trying to keep this out of the news, and then blame someone when reform doesn't happen,” Featherstone said.
Haley's office could not be reached for comment at the time of publishing this report.
Featherstone said he had to turn away American citizens who had fallen on hard times amid the chaos in the state's migrant shelters.
“I would ask veterans to walk up to the shelter, (saying) ‘I’m a Vietnam veteran, and I just need a room for tonight.’ And I would say, ‘I’m sorry, this is for immigrants, this is not allowed for the whole public.’”
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He continued, “I couldn't always find a place for a homeless veteran on a cold night. But we have immigrants.” “And again, I don't blame them for living in a shelter where everything is free: three free meals, free dry cleaning, free Uber, a roof over your head, and free health care. And I send a decorated veteran out into the cold no fewer than six times.” “I had to do it.”
He also said that although there are technical limits on how long one can stay in state shelters, they are not always implemented, and spaces are not made available for citizens in need.
“You can't blame the people who stepped up and tried to do their jobs. You have to blame the system and the person running the system for not putting in checks and balances,” Featherstone said. “The governor didn't have a plan and she just wanted to open these shelters… Nobody specializes in this — Massachusetts is the only state in the entire country that has a right to shelter. So it's fair to say, well, they didn't have it. Well, no one qualifies for it.” Because no one has ever had to experience that.”
