Gov. Maura Healey has done yeoman’s work tackling the state’s surge in homelessness, exacerbated by continued influxes of immigrants.

It’s about to get worse – perhaps to the point where the governor has to make a large – and difficult decision.

Her administration has lined up emergency shelter spaces in college dorms, hotels and motels in addition to existing state shelters that are bursting at the seams. Families were even put up at the Transportation Building.

The shelter cap of 7,500 families was reached, Healey declared a state of emergency, asked for money, asked for more, and the need has not subsided.

As The Hill reported, a migrant caravan is making its way through Mexico towards the U.S.. The reportedly 6,000-strong caravan is the largest organized group of migrants to form in Tapachula, Mexico since 2022.

According to reports, the caravan’s leaders are carrying banners calling the movement an “exodus from poverty,” and it is mainly composed of people from Cuba, Haiti and Honduras.

Migrant rights activist Luis Garcia Villagran, who is accompanying the group, has warned that the caravan could grow to 15,000 people by the time it reaches the border, according to the New York Post.

They aren’t all going to head to Massachusetts, but it’s a good bet some will. Where will we put them? How will we pay for food, shelter and other care?

Joe Biden’s off to St. Croix, so while this is no doubt on his radar, it’s not bearing down with the same urgency as it is for Gov. Healey. Biden isn’t hunting down overflow shelter space, stat.

Healey’s held on for as long as she could, but the writing is not only on the wall, it’s outlined in blinking lights: Massachusetts has to ditch its its current “right to shelter” law.

It was never designed to guarantee housing for anyone who crossed our border. As the Herald reported, the 1983 law, in defining a resident, states that “any such person who enters the Commonwealth solely for the purposes of obtaining such benefits under this chapter shall not be considered a resident.”

But application of the law morphed from covering Massachusetts residents to those who entered the state with the intent of becoming a resident.

Efforts to curtail the overly generous interpretation of the law have sparked outrage. In setting the shelter cap, Healey noted “We are not ending the right-to-shelter law. We are being very clear, though, that we are not going to be able to guarantee placement for folks who are sent here after the end of this month.”

Lawyers for Civil Rights filed an emergency request to stop Healey’s move.

Sen. Ryan C. Fattman, R-Worcester/Hampden, filed an amendment limiting the right-to-shelter law to Massachusetts residents who have resided in the state for at least six months. It was rejected last month.

Healey has considered ending the right to shelter law, but stopped short when the administration realized it did not have the authority to do so, as the Herald reported.

Healey can, however, file her own legislation to end or overhaul the law. While Fattman’s amendment was rousted, the notion that yet more migrants are on their way to the U.S. and Mass. cities and towns may have to accommodate them could boost support this time around.

There is no more room, governor. Do what needs to be done.

Editorial cartoon by Steve Kelley (Creators Syndicate)