Jan 09, 2025
BOSTON (SHNS) - The arrest of an illegal immigrant with fentanyl and a loaded assault rifle at a family shelter site in Revere is putting an intense new light on safety in the maxed-out emergency assistance shelter program just as Gov. Maura Healey is seeking nearly half a billion dollars more to keep it running for the next six months. House Speaker Ronald Mariano said Wednesday that he is both shocked and outraged by the details of the December arrest of 28-year-old Leonardo Andujar Sanchez, whom officials say was staying with someone registered through the state program when he was arrested with an estimated $1 million worth of fentanyl and "a loaded AR-15 with ammo" in a room at the Quality Inn in Revere. And as the House begins to review the $425 million supplemental spending bill the governor filed Monday to fund the shelter system through June, the speaker said the system is in need of changes. "I'm encouraged that she's gonna go in and reexamine the requirements to get in and the entrance procedures to make sure that this doesn't happen again," Mariano said, referring to Healey's ordering of inspections of all shelter sites and a review of intake procedures. "Obviously, the guy was an outsider who was staying with someone, brought this stuff in, and I don't know what else you've got to do. You have to start screening better at the door, and that's what needs to be done. And I'm sure that's what they'll end up doing." Sanchez, who was arraigned on state drug and firearm charges last week in Chelsea District Court, is now also facing federal charges. U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy's office announced Wednesday that Sanchez had been charged with "one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl and one count of being an alien in possession of a firearm who has entered the United States unlawfully." In addition to the five kilograms of fentanyl and AR-style rifle, officers also recovered two rifle magazines, four digital scales, and "an abundance of blue latex gloves," according to a charging affidavit from a Revere police officer. Levy's office said Sanchez, a Dominican citizen who entered the country unlawfully, had been "residing" at the shelter. A woman who identified herself as Sanchez' girlfriend called Revere police, according to the charging affidavit, to alert them to her boyfriend's drugs and gun.  She "told officers that she had been residing at the Quality Inn for three months and that she and her boyfriend obtained the room through a refugee program. Quality Inn staff told the officers that [the girlfriend] is listed as an occupant of the room," the charging documents said. Healey on Wednesday told reporters that the shelter site inspections she triggered earlier in the week are part of a "top-to-bottom review" along with a review of shelter intake processes.  The inspections will be performed by the shelter provider staffs themselves. "So we'll get more answers on that," the governor told reporters after a State House event.  "But I'm very clear about this, and I've been very clear about this, there is zero tolerance for criminal activity or bad actors within any of the shelter sites or state-sponsored sites. And in any instance where we've heard about that, learned about that, we've taken swift action that will continue to be the policy." Asked about families who feel unsafe living at those sites, Healey contrasted "very few" instances of wrongdoing to around 48,000 people she said had lived in the shelters over the past three years. "You know, the vast majority of folks are complying with rules, kids are in school, many of them are working, and those who've come through immigration have -- most of them -- have received work authorizations and are also working," she added. Existing shelter system funding is on track to dry up some time this month, officials have said, and Mariano did not say Wednesday whether the House will direct the administration to make specific policy changes when it acts on the governor's supplemental budget request. "It's a time sensitive bill. And we know what the problems are, we know what she has to do, and we'll have discussions about it," he said. Asked if the House would make system changes a prerequisite for additional funding, the speaker said, "We'll take a look at it. We'll see what the additional costs would be, but I think you need to have something at the door, obviously, because these people are walking in. We will discuss a lot of prerequisites." The House will have to act on Healey's shelter funding bill first. But Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues said Wednesday he and his colleagues will be reviewing the governor's proposal with an eye towards being ready to "dispose of it as we see fit." "We don't know. We haven't had a chance to discuss it here with our colleagues. As you know, in the Senate, we are a deliberative branch. We will be talking about it collectively in caucus over the next couple of weeks, and we'll take it from there," Rodrigues said when asked if the Senate would take a greater interest in directing shelter system policy this time around. "We have no predisposed opinions." Two Republican senators, Peter Durant of Spencer and Kelly Dooner of Taunton, signaled their opposition to Healey's latest request Wednesday, saying in a press release that they will not vote for the spending bill unless it includes language to amend the state law that makes homeless families and pregnant women eligible for shelter. "The bottom line is that our taxpayer funded benefits should only be available to our legal residents. I will oppose the $425 million-dollar supplemental budget until an amendment to the Right to Shelter law is included," Dooner said. A consultant working with Durant and Dooner said the senators are seeking an amendment that would restrict the state shelter system to legal residents, similar to unsuccessful efforts last year to impose a six-month Massachusetts residency requirement for shelter applicants. The Healey administration has said the shelter population is about evenly split between Massachusetts residents and migrants who entered the country legally. "So my understanding is that any participant in the emergency shelter system are legal residents of the commonwealth," Rodrigues said when asked about the Republican proposal. He added, "We'll take a look at that, and I think that raises constitutional issues, but we'll take a look at that. Yep, we'll take a look at anything that's proposed. It's our first bill out of the gate for this new legislative session, and we're excited to get to it as quickly as possible."
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