If Maura Healey were a member of the Boston City Council, she too would have signed the council letter to the governor protesting the state’s crackdown on immigrant overflow shelters.

But she is not. She is the progressive governor who received the letter. It was sent to her because it is her policy — or twists to it — that has led to migrant families sleeping in the streets.

She and other virtue-signaling progressives waved all the illegal immigrants in after President Joe Biden opened the borders, and they are now stuck with them — and paying the price — both politically and financially.

It is a shift in attitude from when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped off the 50 Venezuelan immigrants on Martha’s Vineyard in 2022.

The progressive wanted DeSantis investigated for his “cruel” act, even though the immigrants loved being here. And the politicians could not do enough for them — free housing, food, phones, medical care, schooling training, jobs, you name it.

Back then, Gov.-elect Healey said, “There is a need to make sure that people are housed, and that they have food, and that they’re taken care of … we need to make sure that they’re taken care of.”

Now that the 50 have turned into thousands — with more coming each day — Healey has changed her tune.

In announcing her new regulations last week, she said, “I want to be clear to people, particularly outside of Massachusetts, who may have gotten the word that this is the place to come, that we do not have room here in Massachusetts. We are at capacity.”

“Massachusetts is out of shelter space.”

The letter, signed by nine of the 13 members of the Boston City Council, said, “Housing is a human right, and we cannot sit idly by when faced with a policy that may result in young children being forced to sleep on our city streets.”

It said, “Allowing families to be kicked out of shelters after five days, even with the possibility of a slightly longer stay, and making families ineligible for more permanent shelter for six months, will nullify the mandate of this state law.”

The state law referenced to — Chapter 450 of the ACT of 1983 — does allow for state assistance to pregnant women. It also allows for assistance to others in need, if they are permanent residents of the state, which of course the illegal immigrants are not.

However, if they stay here long enough, they will no doubt be considered “residents” under a liberal interpretation of the law.

In another section of that law that Healey and others have ignored, it also states that “any such person who enters the Commonwealth solely for the purposes of obtaining benefits under this chapter shall not be considered a resident.”

Obviously, this covers thousands of immigrants who have fled their countries to seek shelter in Massachusetts and partake of its generous welfare programs, which is why overflow shelters cannot handle any more immigrants.

The letter was in response to Healey’s new policy of directing newly arrived homeless migrant families to find alternative housing before being kicked of overflow shelters after five (with extensions) days.

These shelters, now rebranded as “temporary respite shelters,” are at the Veterans Home in Chelsea, the National Guard Armory in Lexington, Cambridge and at the former state prison in Norfolk.

There around one thousand immigrants in the respite shelters and another 7,500 immigrant families with children living in emergency housing in various motel and hotels across the state.

All are waiting for homes that do not currently exist while the immigrant influx is costing taxpayers so far over $1 billion a year.

Healey, meanwhile, is offering immigrants free passage if they want to look for homes elsewhere in the country where they may find housing and help, which is what DeSantis did at the Vineyard.

Also, under her “reticketing” plan, the state will also, like Donald Trump, deport immigrants by paying for plane tickets for immigrants who want to return home or to where they came from.

Given what the state is paying for hotels and motels for immigrants – as well as for everything else — Healey could fly everyone home first class and still come out ahead.

Peter Lucas is a veteran political reporter. Email him at: peter.lucas@bostonherald.com