BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Governor Deval Patrick announced Tuesday that unaccompanied minors who illegally crossed the border won't be housed in Mass. after all, but he didn't close the door on the possibility in the future.
When asked if the state might still potentially house the children at some point down the road, the governor said he didn't know.
"I don't know the answer to that. You know, what's been happening down at the southern border as you may know, is that the influx and the arrests or detention of unaccompanied minors has gone down,” Patrick said. “And I hope that means that the message has gotten through to the people in the affected countries that this is not a solution, and that the solution needs to be to, sort out and reduce the violence at home, but I hope, I will say that the extraordinary outpouring of good will and encouragement by people to this office and to me, has been a, just a beautiful, beautiful thing."
The governor didn't reference the pushback he's heard from Bourne and Chicopee, after he suggested the unaccompanied minors be housed either at Joint Air Base Cape Cod or Westover Air Base.
"I think we're pleased that it's not happening, we feel bad for the kids, obviously, but it's a question, we have a fiduciary responsibility to the town," Vice Chair of the Bourne Selectmen Donald Pickard said.
In Bourne, the town selectmen voted unanimously against housing the children, in part because of the potential for a strain on local services.
"It's not about the kids, it's not about us being xenophobes or bigots or whatever. Our board made a determination that we could not afford it if we were going to come into the community," Pickard said.
Bourne Selectman Linda Zuern said she thinks it's a "great thing" that the children will not be housed in Bourne, but says she feels it's "just a little battle that has been won."
Zuern believes it's still very possible the federal government may send the unaccompanied minors to the state, and she wholeheartedly disagrees with it in principle.
The federal government has said there remains substantial uncertainty about the future flows of unaccompanied children.
