Gov. Ned Lamont said on national television that he has offered to send Connecticut’s National Guard to help along the nation’s southern border with the immigration crisis.

Lamont made the offer to President Joe Biden, a close political ally, but Biden gave a noncommittal answer.

In an exchange with co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Lamont said that multiple states are facing problems stemming from thousands of migrants crossing the border from Mexico into Texas.

“It’s in all of our backyards,” Lamont said in the program that aired Friday. “Governor [Phil] Scott from Vermont and myself just wrote a letter together — two states that you don’t think are on the frontlines of immigration. It’s hitting us. I see what it’s doing to the country. They’ve got to secure the border. I tell President Biden, we’ll send the Connecticut Guard down to help you if that’s what you need to get it done.”

Sorkin responded, “And what does he tell you back?”

“We’re trying to get this bipartisan compromise,” Lamont responded. “You know Congress. Things take a long time. They’ve got to get it done.”

The letter that Lamont mentioned was published Monday as an opinion piece in Newsweek magazine online in which the two governors said that Congress must approve the bipartisan deal that has been crafted after detailed negotiations by U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and others.

“As Northeastern governors, we empathize with our colleagues in the Southwest,” the two governors wrote. “If we were governors in that region, we’d be frustrated and exhausted by the failure of the federal government, too. … Americans must go through layers and layers of security at our airports. Yet, every day untold numbers of people slip across our border totally undetected. It makes no sense.”

They added, “Rather than adopting commonsense, bipartisan solutions, Congress has allowed extreme voices, in both parties, to further divide us on the issue to score political points in elections. Even worse, some politicians demonize immigrants seeking the security and opportunity citizenship provides. While others say those who want to secure our borders are inhumane, heartless, or anti-American.”

In bipartisan fashion, the two governors said that both Democrats and Republicans have failed to resolve the issue but have a chance to do so now.

“The bottom line is this: immigration isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue,” they wrote. “It’s a security and humanitarian issue. It’s one that requires us to open our hearts while demanding federal government accountability. And for far too long, it has been an issue that Democrats have swept under the rug, while Republicans have deployed it as political hyperbole. We can do better—with both sides taking a step to meet in the middle.”

The issue came up during the CNBC interview after Lamont said he needed to solve Connecticut’s problems with affordable housing, where many cash-strapped consumers are having trouble paying the rent or buying a home because the mortgage interest rates have skyrocketed.

“You may need housing for a different reason — immigration,” Sorkin said. “You have people being bused up there — not in the same way that is being, that’s happening here — what do you think of the immigration problem in America, and do you think that blue states, which, for so long, thought this was a not in my backyard issue, now it is?”

As the immigration crisis continues across the nation’s southern border, migrants have been showing up suddenly everywhere from New York City to Martha’s Vineyard.

Local officials have been largely unprepared when the asylum seekers arrive unexpectedly, but Connecticut officials are planning to make sure that they are not caught off guard if a busload of migrants suddenly arrives at 3 a.m. in their communities.

During the first 24 hours after arrival, officials need to provide food, water, and shelter on a temporary basis, such as the local town hall or community center, William H. Turner, Connecticut’s emergency management director, said in a recent webinar on the issue. From there, migrants would be taken on state-contracted buses to hotels that are pre-selected across the state that have the ability to handle a large influx of migrants.

Connecticut officials cautioned that they are simply preparing and do not have any information regarding an imminent influx.

Officials said they would need to move quickly to help the migrants with the basic needs of food, water, clothing, diapers, strollers, hygiene kits, blankets, cots and cribs at the temporary sites upon arrival. The asylum seekers may need general health checks, dental screenings for emergencies, and prescription drugs, among others.

In the CNBC interview, Lamont said he continues to back Biden in the presidential race against former President Donald J. Trump. Lamont was an early supporter of Biden by holding a major fundraiser for the candidate at his Greenwich home at a time when many Democrats were still supporting other candidates.

“People like sanity,” Lamont said. “I think at the end of the day, they say, ‘Joe Biden may not be as energetic as I want. But I trust him. He’s sane.’ ”

Concerning Democrats who have expressed reservations that Biden is too old for the job and are frustrated with his performance, Lamont responded, “We always get cranky until it’s showtime. Then we all come together.”

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com.

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