By Lisa Kashinsky

With help from Kelly Garrity

THEY CAME, THEY SAW, THEY…??? — Federal Homeland Security officials met with senior members of the Healey administration, state and local leaders, and service providers over their two-day visit to assess the migrant situation in Massachusetts.

House Speaker Ron Mariano — who said just last week that President Joe Biden needs to "start paying attention" to immigration issues — met with Department of Homeland Security team, his office confirmed. So did senior officials in Gov. Maura Healey’s office. Healey did not personally take part in the meetings, spokesperson Karissa Hand said, but Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll dropped in.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu attended a session yesterday at the Immigrant Family Services Institute, a Mattapan-based nonprofit that mostly services Haitian migrants and has urged the federal government to speed up the work authorization process for them. There, DHS officials heard from local service providers about what they’re doing to support migrants.

Wu’s administration “worked closely with the governor’s team to support this visit,” a spokesperson for the mayor told Playbook. And the city looks “forward to continuing to partner with the Healey administration and federal partners on this challenging situation.”

The DHS assessment comes at a critical moment for the state and for the governor. The number of families in the state’s overburdened emergency shelter system has surged over 6,900 and is growing by the day. The state estimates about half of those families are migrants.

Healey has been publicly and privately pleading with the federal government for months for more aid for the shelter system and expedited work permits for migrants, to little avail. Now that DHS has seen the situation on the ground, here are three things to watch for:

— Will Massachusetts receive more federal aid for migrants in the shelter system?

— Does the visit quell state Democrats’ frustrations with the Biden administration?

— Does the House now have the information it needs to proceed with Healey’s request for $250 million in additional shelter aid, and does that number change?

DHS’ visit also comes as communities across the state are struggling to care for new arrivals and scrambling to prepare for more. At least 3,171 migrant and homeless families are living in hotels and motels across some 80 cities and towns. Now other communities are bracing for an influx: Attleboro Mayor Cathleen DeSimone told WPRI yesterday that she’s setting up a task force to prepare for if and when the state asks her city to host migrant families, too.

And backlash is rising, from protesters on Cape Cod to members of the neo-Nazi group NSC-131 staging more than a half-dozen demonstrations outside of locations housing migrants.

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Tips? Scoops? Did you meet with DHS? Email me: [email protected].

TODAY — Healey speaks at the AFL-CIO convention at 9:25 a.m. at the Encore Casino. Driscoll keynotes the Massachusetts Councils on Aging fall conference at 1:30 p.m. in Danvers. Wu announces a new Bluebike program at 12:15 p.m. at City Hall Plaza and is honored at the Mothers for Justice and Equality conference at 3 p.m. in Brookline.

GO INSIDE THE CAPITOL DOME: From the outset, POLITICO has been your eyes and ears on Capitol Hill, providing the most thorough Congress coverage — from political characters and emerging leaders to leadership squabbles and policy nuggets during committee markups and hearings. We're stepping up our game to ensure you’re fully informed on every key detail inside the Capitol Dome, all day, every day. Start your day with Playbook AM, refuel at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report and enrich your evening discussions with Huddle. Plus, stay updated with real-time buzz all day through our brand new Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here.

HILLARY AND HEALEY — Gov. Maura Healey hit the airwaves with Hillary Clinton this week, joining the former secretary of state on her podcast, “You and Me Both with Hillary Clinton.” The pair talked basketball, billboards and President Joe Biden’s handling of the migrant crisis.

“I have been leaning hard on the Biden administration,” Healey said as she re-upped her calls for expedited work permits for migrants. “These folks need to work, they want to work and we have a workforce challenge when it comes to so many industries out there.”

Healey also revealed one her favorite ways to unwind: cleaning.

“Two nights ago I was cleaning out the freezer,” she told a chuckling Clinton. “Where there is so much chaos and disorder and things coming at you, it’s like: What can I find at the end of the day that will give me some semblance of, like, OK, peace? So sometimes it's the freezer.”

— “Report: Mass. gets high marks for transparency, inclusiveness on redistricting,” by John L. Micek, MassLive: “The commonwealth got an A-, the highest grade in the nation, for an 'accessible ... and participatory' redistricting process, according to a report released Wednesday by Common Cause, the NAACP, the Center for Popular Democracy, and other organizations.”

— “Sex-ed for kindergartners bill gets hearing, lawmakers say it brings the state into 21st century,” by Matthew Medgser, Boston Herald: “A bill before lawmakers could prevent dire public health consequences for Bay State youths or determine the final destination of your eternal soul, depending on who you ask. … The policy — and the bill before lawmakers — would begin consent education at the kindergarten level and introduce more complicated sexual development questions as children age.”

— “Mayors pitch new real-estate tax as another tool against the housing crisis,” by Katie Lannan, GBH News.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts is endorsing Enrique Pepén for Boston’s next District 5 city councilor and incumbent Councilors Brian Worrell in District 4 and Liz Breadon in District 9.

— “Boston philanthropists launch new effort to ship Floridians ‘banned books’,” by Haley Lerner, GBH News: “Tech entrepreneur Paul English, who co-founded Kayak, and Joyce Linehan, former chief of policy for the City of Boston and member of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, have founded BannedBooksUSA.org, an online platform that allows Florida residents to order banned and restricted books for just the price of shipping.”

— “‘Moral bankruptcy’: Campus disputes over Israeli-Palestinian conflict turn uglier,” by Mike Damiano and Hilary Burns, Boston Globe: “Tensions on campuses over the war between Israel and Hamas escalated on Wednesday as an out-of-state conservative group drove trucks through Harvard Square emblazoned with pictures of students linked to a controversial statement on Israel, labeling them with the word ‘Antisemites.’ Meanwhile, officials at Tufts University denounced one of the school’s own student groups for a statement it issued earlier this week that applauded the attack by Hamas and praised the terrorists’ ‘creativity.’”

— "‘Unacceptably devoid of empathy': DSA facing an internal reckoning on Israel," by Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman, POLITICO.

Enter the “room where it happens”, where global power players shape policy and politics, with Power Play. POLITICO’s brand-new podcast will host conversations with the leaders and power players shaping the biggest ideas and driving the global conversations, moderated by award-winning journalist Anne McElvoy. Sign up today to be notified of new episodes – click here.

— “MBTA says all GLX slow zones are eliminated,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “The MBTA reported on Wednesday that all of the slow zones on the Green Line extension have been removed. … T officials blamed the slow zones on track rails that were too close together, a defect discovered during inspections on September 13 and 14. To remedy the problem, crews working in the early morning hours widened the rails where the tracks were too narrow and repaired rail ties in the areas where widening took place. No rails were replaced.”

— “MBTA GM announces Lynn interim platform to open in December,” by James Bartlett, ItemLive.

— “A blue state, but Massachusetts’ electorate has become something else: the cradle of independents,” by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: “While independents have long thrived here, the number of so-called unenrolled voters has downright surged in recent years, with a mix of bureaucratic and ideological currents working to swell the ranks of independents to 61 percent of the state’s 4.7 million voters. That, by one analysis, is the highest share of unaffiliated voters in any state in the country.”

— “In Attleboro, Sen. Warren slams private equity for buying home parks,” by Ted Nesi, WPRI: “U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren brought her crusade against the private equity industry to Attleboro on Wednesday, spending an hour with residents of a manufactured-home park who’ve been battling out-of-state ownership for years.”

THE CLARK CAUCUS — House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark sees one way forward from the chaos “incapacitating” her chamber: bipartisanship.

“Republicans must decide to put people over politics and start working with Democrats to enact real-world, bipartisan solutions that prioritize working families,” the second-ranking House Democrat wrote in a Boston Globe op-ed published before Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) clinched the GOP’s nod for speaker on Wednesday. Republicans have delayed a full House vote on the post.

— “As climate risks mount, state unveils new plan to adapt,” by Sabrina Shankman, Boston Globe: “[T]he Healey administration unveiled ResilientMass — an update to its 2018 climate adaptation plan with 127 state agency actions to respond to the changing climate. This includes the creation of a new Office of Climate Science and efforts to make the MBTA more resilient to tunnel floods and other impacts from climate-fueled weather extremes.”

— “Hate group’s flyers target New Bedford neighborhood,” by Colin Hogan, New Bedford Light: “A neo-Nazi hate group that has been active across New England started recruitment in New Bedford on Wednesday morning, leaving flyers on porches and doorsteps near Buttonwood Park. The mayor said in a statement that he condemned the group and promptly reported the incident to the FBI.”

— “Turtleboy blogger arrested on witness intimidation charges in connection with Karen Read case, officials say,” by Travis Andersen and Jeremy C. Fox, Boston Globe: “The controversial blogger behind the Turtleboy website is facing witness intimidation and conspiracy charges related to his coverage of the high-profile murder case against Karen Read, who is accused of hitting her boyfriend with her SUV and leaving him to die outside a Canton home in 2022, officials said. Aidan Kearney, 41, was arraigned in Stoughton District Court on Wednesday on multiple counts of witness intimidation and a conspiracy charge. He pleaded not guilty and was released on personal recognizance.”

TRANSITIONS — Gintautas Dumcius has joined CommonWealth Magazine. He was most recently managing editor of the Dorchester Reporter and has previously worked for Boston Business Journal, MassLive and the State House News Service.

— Gillian Wener has joined Lathrop GPM’s Boston office as an associate with the tort, insurance and environmental practice group.

— Chrissy Lynch, formerly the Massachusetts AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer and chief of staff, has been chosen as the union’s new president, succeeding President Emeritus Steven Tolman. She is the first woman to helm the organization.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Mary Campbell, Kate Nocera and Mass Cultural Council Public Affairs Director Bethann Steiner.

NEW HORSE RACE ALERT: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE SENATE KIND — Axios Boston's Steph Solis joins hosts Steve Koczela and Jennifer Smith to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict and local reaction to it. Brent Benson models the special Senate election for Anne Gobi's old seat. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and SoundCloud.

Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: [email protected].

Follow us on Twitter

Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family

Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook

View all our politics and policy newsletters

Follow us

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings

This email was sent to [email protected] by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA

Please click here and follow the steps to unsubscribe.