AUGUSTA — In a conference call Tuesday with federal agencies, Gov. Paul LePage was informed that eight illegal immigrant children have been placed in Maine by the federal government.

“I only learned that children have been placed in Maine after I asked the question,” LePage said in a prepared statement. “No one from the federal government had informed me or the Governor’s Office that unaccompanied alien children were coming to Maine.”

LePage was one of six governors in a conference call with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the agencies responsible for placing the children.

“The White House officials did not provide any further information, and questions by other governors about how to handle unaccompanied alien children went unanswered,” LePage said.

Under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Division of Children’s Services is charged with the care and placement of unaccompanied immigrant children. Children’s Services attempts to place the children with family already in the United States.

According to the DHHS website, unlike the traditional refugee status, “An unaccompanied alien child is a child who has no lawful immigration status in the United States; has not attained 18 years of age; and … there is no parent or legal guardian in the United States or no parent or legal guardian in the United States available to provide care and physical custody.”

The children arriving in the states, most of whom are over 14 years old, male and from Central America, are expected to top 60,000 in 2014, according to the website.

This surge, up from 24,668 in 2013, paired with increasing GOP criticism of President Barack Obama’s immigration policies, has led to such moves as Texas Gov. Rick Perry announcing Monday the deployment of 1,000 National Guardsmen to the Mexico border.

“The failure of Congress and the president to address our border issues should not result in more of a financial burden on Maine people,” LePage said. “We cannot become a state that encourages illegal immigration.”

LePage referred to Mainers as “generous” people who give freely to charity to help those less fortunate. However, he said, the state’s limited resources ought to be used for the care of the “elderly and disabled who cannot care for themselves.”

The governor’s press secretary, Adrienne Bennett, called the situation “troubling.”

Bennett said the children arrived in Maine between January and July of this year, but aside from that, the departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services flatly refused to answer questions.

“We need answers,” Bennett said, citing issues such as funding education, medical needs and housing for children placed in Maine.

Without knowledge of which agency placed the children, whether they are in foster care or even knowing what to expect next from the federal government, Bennett said, “It’s an important subject that Mainers and people around the country need answers to.”

dmcintire@sunjournal.com