Gov. Maura Healey can claim Massachusetts isn’t a sanctuary state all she wants, but it’s going to take a lot more than words to convince the voters, according to the MassGOP.

Healey, a Democrat, has said in recent interviews that the state’s immigration crisis isn’t the result of an established state policy, but rather a failure at the federal level to address the U.S. border and update immigration laws. The position of Massachusetts is quite clear, she said.

“We’re not a sanctuary state,” Healey told the Herald for her end-of-year interview.

“We are not a sanctuary state. If you come here, there is not housing here,” she said in another interview just days before.

However, voters have spent the last year watching the cost of sheltering thousands of migrant families in local hotels skyrocket while their local school districts fill to bursting with new students. They aren’t going to be fooled so easily, a MassGOP spokesperson told the Herald on Sunday.

“Massachusetts residents do not buy what the governor is trying to sell,” said Logan Trupiano.

The state spent $856 million housing migrant families in fiscal 2024, up from the about $325 million normally spent on shelter costs in any given fiscal year. Massachusetts is alone among the 50 U.S. states in guaranteeing a right to shelter for pregnant women and families with children.

After the governor declared a state of emergency last summer due to migrant arrivals, she put a cap on the number of families the state would attempt to house. The state quickly reached that 7,500 family cap, and stayed there for months. Healey then used her bully pulpit to warn migrant families that there was no more shelter to be had in the Bay State.

Healey’s warnings may have worked. There are currently about 6,886 families housed in state provided shelter, according to information provided by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, and most of them are apparently from the Bay State.

Still, the MassGOP says that Healey has a lot more work to do in order to reverse damage done in part by her support of pro-migration positions.

“She’s trying to backtrack years of her progressive rhetoric and policies that have led to Massachusetts becoming a magnet for migrants and illegal immigrants alike,” Trupiano said.

“Until policies are changed, her words are meaningless and taxpayers will continue to be left holding the bag,” he continued.