Chris Mattei, lead counsel for immigrant children detained in-state and partner of Koskoff, a personal injury firm in Bridgeport, CT, speaks in Hartford with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal in the background. Credit: Kate Santini / CT Newsjunkie
HARTFORD, CT – U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal is calling for a federal investigation to examine the detainment of unaccompanied migrant children in federal holding facilities across Connecticut and the nation at large.
“We’re here because this phenomenon of kids detained routinely and repeatedly for long periods of time is becoming a national phenomenon,” said Blumenthal standing before the Capitol building in Hartford Thursday.
Blumenthal sent an official letter calling on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to open an investigation on the practices of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), the federal agency responsible for handling domestic resettlements in cases of undocumented migrants.
Up to 1,800 unaccompanied minors are held in HHS or ORR facilities at any given time, according to recent estimates. On average, at least two dozen of these unaccompanied minors can be found in ORR facilities in Connecticut.
The average amount of days children spend in these facilities has increased from roughly 30 days in 2024 to over six months in 2026, according to Emily Norman, regional director of Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), an organization that provides legal counsel for unaccompanied minors.
Emily Norman, Regional Director of Kids in Need of Defense (K.I.N.D.) speaks in Hartford on Aug. 13, 2026. Credit: Kate Santini / CT Newsjunkie
The Hartford branch of KIND has helped roughly 1,3000 migrant children through the legal process since it first opened its doors in 2023. However, KIND, along with other nonprofit organizations providing legal counsel to minors, has lost access to federal funds in recent months.
For many children, meeting with public counsel is their first time discussing any abuse or trafficking situations they experienced in their home country, said Norman. Organizations like KIND are crucial for helping courts decide whether it is in the child’s best interest to return home, said Norman.
In spite of a federal law that prohibits parent or guardian applications from taking longer than 10 days to process, unaccompanied minors in Connecticut have spent up to 505 days in custody, said Blumenthal.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal speaks in Hartford about children detained by immigration authorities on Aug. 13, 2026. Credit: Kate Santini / CT Newsjunkie
“What the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) in the federal government seems to be doing is, in effect, stonewalling and slow-walking applications” by creating legal loopholes around the 10-day limit, said Blumenthal.
This is not the first time Blumenthal has spoken out against federal immigration policies. He has called for legal action on numerous occasions, including issuing a report last December that compiled 22 firsthand accounts of violence at the hands of federal ICE agents.
Blumenthal’s advocacy in Congress has been met with mixed responses, including a statement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) declaring it will no longer be looking into alleged incidents of violence perpetrated by ICE agents against civilians.
Congress has “consistently failed” to follow federal guidelines on processing unaccompanied migrant children, said Chris Mattei, who serves as the lead counsel for children detained in Connecticut.
“Whether it’s ineptitude or a lack of staffing or something much more nefarious…[that is] the intentional and deliberate policy to defy the law so as to inflict pain on children in order to induce the deportation of their families,” a federal investigation must be opened, said Mattei.
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