Middletown mayor: Migrant youths need ‘help, not jail’

MIDDLETOWN — The mayor is calling the Biden administration’s recent rejection of pursuing the idea of relocating migrant children at the now-closed state youth detention center here a solid decision.

“It’s not the right site to be opened for anybody to be housed in,” Mayor Ben Florsheim said Friday. Last week, he called the proposal “inhumane,” considering the now-closed Connecticut Juvenile Training School effectively was a jail.

Gov. Ned Lamont and his chief aides visited the 1225 River Road facility about two weeks ago. He relayed the president’s decision to reporters late 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,’” the governor said, according to the CT Mirror.

“‘But we really appreciate the heart of the state of Connecticut to reach out and give us some options,’” the Mirror reported Biden said.

Efforts to look for other options won’t be necessary, Lamont’s Chief of Staff Paul Mounds and state Department of Children and Families Commissioner Vannessa Dorantes said in a joint statement Friday morning.

“Over the past week, significant attention has been paid to the request of the State of Connecticut to possibly offer a plan to help decompress emergency shelters that currently house unaccompanied minors at our country’s southern border. The urgency of this task has slowed, as facilities have been stood up in other states,” they said.

Florsheim tweeted his thoughts Thursday evening. “I believe this is the right decision and yet it’s hard to feel good about knowing the bigger problem remains unsolved. We need leadership from @POTUS to help, not jail, migrant kids, and to finally make immigration reform a reality.”

The mayor said Friday that the nation must find a way to build upon reunification efforts, foster care placement and “transitional settings” to ensure youths coming from the U.S. border get the care they need.

Although the mayor initially wasn’t aware of the Lamont’s visit, Florsheim has since been involved in many conversations with state officials, as well as members of Middletown’s delegation, he said. He expects to meet again soon with Lamont and local legislators for a “debriefing.”

“This is yet another example of the values of collaboration set by Governor Lamont’s administration,” the joint statement said. “The Lamont Administration and DCF stand ready to support the Biden Administration by any means we can if needed in the future to support this current humanitarian mission.”

“Connecticut’s commitment to embrace these children in a standard that reflects compassionate, safe, secure and culturally responsive care until they can be connected to their parents or sponsor is something we can be very proud of,” Mounds and Dorantes said.

Florsheim concurred with that sentiment, saying he hopes city leaders can continue to play a role in remedying the problem.

“There are models that are working in Connecticut to get people appropriately placed, not just hand over all the responsibility to a federal contractor to keep them all in a congregate setting,” Florsheim said.

The mayor isn’t sure why the idea was discontinued. “My guess is … even though this site has things to recommend it, like outdoor facilities and classrooms, the negatives outweigh the positives.”

The initial number of youths “bandied about,” the mayor said, was in the range of 500 to 2,000 children. However, CJTS is a 140-bed facility. “Even if you stretched it to the limits, which I don’t think would be humane, you’re not getting close to those numbers. CJTS is the one they looked at most seriously and there were others they took a glance at,” Florsheim said.

“Size and capacity was probably a big factor. That’s a sad thing to have to grapple with because it shows the scale of what we’re dealing with,” the mayor said.

Area youth activists, who last week condemned the idea of using the facility, were pleased to learn of the about-face. Connecticut Justice Alliance Executive Director Christina Quaranta said Friday she was happy the president “rescinded” the request, “especially because the option was a closed youth prison.”