Gov. Maura Healey wouldn’t take the bait when offered the chance to respond to former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte’s criticisms over her response to the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl by a migrant housed by the state.
Ayotte, who hopes to replace outgoing New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu this election cycle, called on her Democratic opponent to denounce endorsement by Healey, after the Bay State governor said events like the sexual assault in Rockland are “unfortunate” but that “from time to time, things will happen.”
“That wasn’t the whole quote that I gave,” Healey told WBZ’s Jon Keller. “What happened to this young victim — this 15-year-old girl — is exactly why the federal government needs to act, Congress needs to act. People need to do their job and fix this.”
Ayotte responded to reporting about the governor’s comments by calling on former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig to “denounce” Healey’s endorsement.
“This is the problem with politicians. There are real consequences for these dangerous sanctuary policies and when the system fails our children, it is not good enough to say it will happen — it is unacceptable, and it must be fixed. Maura Healey should be ashamed of herself,” Ayotte said in a statement.
Cory Alvarez, 26, a Haitian national, is charged with aggravated rape of a child with a 10-year or more age difference of the alleged rape in Rockland.
Alvarez had been vetted by the Biden Administration before being allowed entry to the country and provided shelter in Massachusetts, according to Healey. He has been arrested and will be held to account for his actions and the victim, Healey said, will receive support services.
“It’s a horrible and heartbreaking situation,” she said. “It speaks to why the feds and congress need to act.”
The governor did not directly respond to Ayotte, saying she is “not interested in playing politics with this issue.”
“In fact, that’s been the problem here. Remember, it was a few weeks ago, there was a deal. A bipartisan deal, members of congress — Republicans, Democrats, Independents — came together for a deal on the border, to fix this. Donald Trump said no deal, no deal before the elections,” she said.
Healey declared that a state of emergency existed in the Bay State last August as a result of an influx of migrant families into Massachusetts. The Commonwealth is alone among the 50 U.S. states in guaranteeing a right to shelter for pregnant women and parents of small children.