Gov. Patrick Agrees for Mass to Temporarily House Migrant Children

Standing at a press conference with area faith leaders on Friday morning, Gov. Deval Patrick said the commonwealth will house “a few hundred” migrant Central America children for two main reasons – “love of country and lessons of faith.”

The Obama administration asked Massachusetts and other states to help house some of the more than 52,000 children who have flooded the US border since October. 

Patrick doesn’t know exact numbers at this point and said the state may wind up not getting any children. The federal government, which will pay for the program, has asked for states to offer locations with 90,000 square feet and enough space for to up to 1,000 refugees.

The children would be held at either Joint Base in Bourne or Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee for four months. He said there is no possibility that these could be permanent shelters.

The governor said the children will stay an average of 30 days while they await processing, deportation or to be reunited with their families in the US.

Patrick said children will not get to move around freely and will stay secured in the location.

The governor said the satellite shelters may depend on Congress approving an emergency appropriation by President Barack Obama to fund the program.

Patrick said the country has a history of providing sanctuary to desperate children for centuries, including Irish, Russian, Cambodian, Haitians, Sudanese and children from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

The nation didn’t do the same in 1939 when Jewish children escaping Nazi occupation were turned back from the US, he said, which is a blight on the nation’s history.

Patrick said this country’s power “comes from giving – not from taking.”

Patrick, who was visibly emotional at times during the press conference, said every major faith tradition tells its followers to treat others as they would like to be treated, and to help strangers.

“I believe we will one day have to answer for our actions and our inactions,” said Patrick.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has declined the federal government’s request for a shelter in that state. When asked by a reporter why Patrick, who is not running for reelection, has agreed for Massachusetts to shelter the children, while other governors, who are running for reelection, have not, the governor paused before answering, “This isn’t a political decision.”

Patrick’s response was met with applause from the faith leaders and others in the room.