MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — The humanitarian crisis of migrant children packed together at the Southern border is forcing the federal government to ask for state help.
During her recent visit, Vice President Harris pulled Gov. Ned Lamont aside to ask if Connecticut is willing to house some of these kids.
No final decisions have been made on if, where, or how many migrant children Connecticut may house, but the state is actively searching for places to put them.
"We have thousands of kids who are lost and alone down on the Rio Grande border," said Lamont earlier this week.
We’ve all seen the images of migrant children packed into facilities at the southern border.
"I can tell you the Vice President felt some urgency," said Lamont.
They have been through, "traumatic experiences coming from places in which they’ve been seeking asylum from," said Vanessa Dorantes, the Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families.
During the Vice President’s recent trip to Connecticut, she made an informal request to see if the state could help alleviate the overcrowding and improve living conditions.
"I said we are going to try and do what we can," said Lamont.
So, the state is scoping out potential sites. They’ve toured the Juvenile Training School in Middletown, which closed in 2018.
"The facility is designed for up to 240 kids and I’m hearing there may be numbers significantly higher than that under this proposal," said State Sen. Matt Lesser, who represents Middletown. Barbed wire, cramped rooms, the knock on the JTS is that it feels restrictive. "The dominant feeling is that you are in a prison," said Lesser.
As an alternative, Rep. Mike D’Agostino of Hamden said the former High Meadows School property in Hamden would be an ideal choice.
"It’s been mothballed for a while now, but the state has been taking care of it and done a wonderful job maintaining it. It would need improvement. It would need to be modernized but it’s not a jail it’s actually a wonderful campus," said D’Agostino.
About 100 migrant children are already being cared for in Connecticut. Spread out across group homes, non-profits and two federal facilities in Groton and Washington.
"I know in Connecticut we do have a standard of care," remarked Samir Mahmud of New Haven.
Mahmud fought in 2018 to keep his mom, a refugee from Bangladesh, from being deported. She was granted asylum in 2019 and just got her application to become a U.S. citizen.
"Last week they got a letter saying to come in for their fingerprint. We don’t know how long their green card is away, but they are coming in for their fingerprint which means they are coming close to final steps for their green card," said Mahmud.
Mahmud said his heart breaks to see kids seeking a better life living in such inhospitable environment.
"The most important message I want to leave is that immigrants aren’t as bad as you think. They are the backbone of this country. They are people who want to help America succeed," he said.
Mahmud points out that the overcrowding crisis at the border comes with the COVID-19 crisis. Lawmakers have expressed some concern about that since these vaccines aren’t yet authorized for use in kids younger than 16.
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