Massachusetts residents support the state’s decades-old “right-to-shelter” law and a majority say the simmering migrant crisis is the responsibility of President Biden, congressional Republicans, and the state Legislature — not Governor Maura Healey, a new poll found.
Sixty-three percent of respondents either “strongly” or “somewhat” support the state’s 1983 right-to-shelter law, which requires the state to provide emergency shelter to some homeless families, according to a new University of Massachusetts Amherst poll.
And 77 percent say that either Biden (29 percent), congressional Republicans (24 percent), or the state Legislature (24 percent) is responsible for the roughly $45 million monthly cost of housing the state’s homeless and migrant families. Only 5 percent lay the blame on Healey.
Advertisement
The UMass Amherst poll, conducted between Oct. 13 and 20, carried a margin of error of plus-or-minus 5.1 percentage points.
Among the 700 voters polled, those who supported the right-to-shelter law leaned younger, wealthier, Democrat, and more female.
The poll was conducted the week Healey announced she will begin limiting how many families the state will place in its emergency shelter system while re-emphasizing her call for the Biden administration and Congress to act.
Meanwhile, Congress’ House speaker fight had made governing nearly impossible, and state lawmakers are still weighing Healey’s month-old request for an additional $250 million for the shelter system.
An influx of migrants over the past two years, coupled with a deepening housing crisis, has overwhelmed the state’s emergency family-shelter system and pushed local cities and towns to the brink.
Healey’s announcement that the state can’t accommodate any more than 7,500 families invited criticism from some experts who questioned whether the move effectively discontinues the right-to-shelter law and exposes the state to possible litigation.
According to state officials, 7,119 families were in emergency shelters as of Monday. More than 3,400 of them were in state-subsidized hotels or motels.
Advertisement
Healey last month declared a state of emergency and, weeks later, said she would activate up to 250 members of the National Guard to help families living in hotels who don’t have a contracted service provider, typically a nonprofit, to help them access medical care, find transportation, or organize food deliveries.
The state has also opened two new family “welcome centers” and a temporary shelter on Joint Base Cape Cod, as well as directed an infusion of money to local organizations helping migrants with case management and legal assistance.
Earlier this month, Federal Homeland Security officials came to Boston to assess the migrant crisis after calls from local and state leaders for federal assistance.
Healey has twice written to the Biden administration, imploring officials to quickly grant work permits to the thousands of migrants who have overwhelmed the state’s shelter system and to send money to help the state provide necessary resources such as housing and transportation.
On Monday, House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano, who has not indicated when the chamber will move on Healey’s request, quipped about the requests for federal assistance.
“If you’re expecting money to come out of Washington now, you might as well go buy a bridge to New York,” the Quincy Democrat said.
Samantha J. Gross can be reached at samantha.gross@globe.com. Follow her @samanthajgross.