Gov. Maura Healey could have saved Massachusetts $6,800 this summer had she not sent a team to the southern border in Texas to “educate” people of a shelter shortage here.

As the Herald reported, the trip was another bid to dial back the number of migrants arriving in the Bay State.

“We don’t have housing available right now, and we wanted to be really clear. It’s something I’ve been saying for a long time, but I think it was important that we be able to communicate directly with folks on the ground,” Healey said of the June trip. “I think it’s successful. I think it’s important that we be out there with that message.”

That was then.

Now Healey is all but laying the welcome mat as she declared that Massachusetts State Police won’t be used to assist deportations under the incoming Trump administration.

Signaling to undocumented migrants that the state won’t lift a finger to enforce immigration laws is like turning on the flashing neon “vacancy” sign on a motel. Need a room? Come here.

Has Massachusetts uncovered more shelter space, or found funds to offset the $1 billion+ bill the state is paying to house and care for migrants for several fiscal years?

Unless they’ve struck gold in the Great Blue Hills, it’s unlikely.

What the state has in abundance is cities and towns to be “selected” to house migrants, like it or not. Considering Healey made a major sanctuary flex, an influx from other states can be expected.

She’s not alone. The Somerville City Council is doubling down on its status as a sanctuary city by reaffirming the designation in a resolution.

It states that the city will “strongly advocate for schools, hospitals, places of worship, and courthouses to be recognized as ‘sensitive locations,’ safe from federal immigration enforcement actions, to ensure the fair and compassionate administration of justice.”

The resolution “also invites neighboring cities in Massachusetts to reaffirm their commitment to serving and protecting their immigrant communities, joining in solidarity to safeguard residents’ rights and safety.”

Does this include the right to decide whether your neighborhood, city or town can handle an influx of migrants, or the safety of having criminal illegal migrants deported after committing rape or murder, instead of letting them out on bail?

Other sanctuary cities around the state include Amherst, Boston, Cambridge, Concord, Lawrence, Newton and Northampton. Mayor Michelle Wu has already said local police won’t be lending an assist to any deportation efforts.

Progressives lament about the next four years under Donald Trump, and moves such as refusing to work with ICE are all part of the “resistance.”

But what will that resistance mean for Massachusetts? Higher shelter costs as more illegal immigrants seek our sanctuary status, more spaces “selected” to house migrants, and the knowledge that those here illegally who’ve committed often heinous crimes can be back out on the street, having escaped the hands of ICE?

Where can Massachusetts residents go for sanctuary from progressive politics?

Editorial cartoon by Steve Kelley (Creators Syndicate)