Blumenthal talks about border inspection trip
WASHINGTON — Sen. Richard Blumenthal became a longdistance day tripper Friday, flying to McAllen, Texas, with 12 other senators to inspect crowded border facilities and back home the same day.
In deference to the extreme South Texas heat, Blumenthal dispensed with his customary dark suit in favor of an opencollar blue dress shirt. As the visit wrapped up, he told reporters that he and his colleagues had witnessed a “humanitarian crisis” that is “of Donald Trump’s making.”
In a quick phone call as he boarded the return flight, Blumenthal described the same kind of pandemonium in detention facilities that has become disturbingly commonplace on TV news.
Cement floors, cramped rooms, basic hygiene and spare clothing unavailable — though Blumenthal noted that detainees now get showers every three days instead of never while in custody.
Detainees want to apply for asylum and avoid deportation orders for failure to appear. But documents in English told them simply to appear, with no date, time or place included. When Blumenthal and the others asked, officials told them “they should call in” — a tall order with no phone number included and detainees having little (if any) ability in English.
Congress last month approved $4.5 billion in aid to build up the capacity of border facilities to withstand large waves of migrants.
Blumenthal and Sen. Chris Murphy are backing the “Stop Cruelty to Migrant Children Act,” which mandates an end to neglectful treatment of children.
Kevin McAleenan, the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security, was along on the trip. He and other officials there did not run from the term “humanitarian crisis,” Blumenthal said.
“But the problem is the policy comes from the top,” Blumenthal said.
Trump sees the squalid conditions as a deterrent, he said.
“It’s the policy of deliberate cruelty that’s the elephant in the room here, not so invisibly,” Blumenthal said.
Comprehensive immigration reform, he said, is “the only way to correct the failings of a broken system.
A blast from the past
The Third Biennial Connecticut in the Capitol Conference had a bit of homecoming flavor to it.
The local pols who make it all happen at home went through the buffet line before settling down at tables to listen to Blumenthal and Murphy — and a surprise guest, Chris Dodd.
The 75yearold former senator offered words of succor to those who feel more out of sorts with each fresh headline President Donald Trump produces.
“This is a difficult time,” Dodd said in a comforting grandfatherly tone.
But previous generations lived through wars, depressions, times of racial divisions, and always emerged for the better, he said.
“I don’t want to sound like Pollyanna but … it’s always an ongoing struggle,” he said. “It’s never over.”
Among those at the tables were Darien First Selectman Jayme Stevenson, a Republican who insisted she was not there in any partisan capacity. As chairwoman of the Western Connecticut Council of Governments, she’s less concerned with the occupant of the White House than the mechanics of the federal government and how it can better address the myriad of transportation problems the region faces — from trafficchoked highways to rusting railroad bridges. Sitting next to her, Wilton First Selectman Lynne Vanderslice nodded in agreement.
Ronald Pugliese, president and CEO of the Naugatuck Economic Development Corporation, wasn’t looking for anything in particular. But he couldn’t resist the impulse to boast just a little when a reporter inquired about the old industrial town (think Naugahyde) and its long slog through the decadesold manufacturing downturn.
Can he see the other side yet? “We’re not over the hump yet but we’re making progress,” he said.
The factories that produced Almond Joy and Mounds candy bars and Keds sneakers mostly have been torn down.
Pugliese and other officials in Naugatuck are busy cooking up deals for replacements that secure the town’s economic future. Obviously, easier said than done.
“We’re not sitting idly by; we’re not crying in our milk,” he said. “We’re working to repurpose these properties.”
All the 100 or so guests had one thing in common.
“You’re here because you are cheerleaders for Connecticut,” said Murphy, who also recalled he got his start in politics as a longago intern in Dodd’s D.C. office.