The Biden administration will not be placing migrant children at the closed Connecticut Juvenile Training School or any other temporary shelter in Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday.
“At this point, I think the White House said, ‘Let’s take a pause. I think we’re taking care of these kids elsewhere right now. But we really appreciate the heart of the state of Connecticut to reach out and give us some options,’” Lamont said.
The word from the White House comes as the federal government is pursuing leasing a convention center in Long Beach, Calif., that could house at least 1,000 children.
Lamont and Vannessa Dorantes, the commissioner of the Department of Children and Families, toured the Connecticut Juvenile Training School two weeks ago after Vice President Kamala Harris asked the governor if the state could house some of the children who were being held in overcrowded shelters in Texas.
The debate in Connecticut over the suitability of using the training school, a high-security detention facility shuttered in 2018 after less than 20 years of service, as a shelter never reached the White House, Lamont’s Chief of Staff Paul Mounds said.
State officials never submitted CJTS or any other site for federal review as they awaited final word from the Biden administration as to whether a Connecticut shelter would be needed, Mounds said.
On Wednesday night it came: There is no plan for the foreseeable future to move children detained at the southern border to Connecticut.
The White House press office had no comment Thursday night, referring questions to the Department of Health and Human Services.