Saying the need was “compelling,” Gov. Ned Lamont visited a Bridgeport immigration agency to tout nearly $3 million in emergency funds for groups targeted by the Trump administration.

Republican critics called the money an unvetted “giveaway” to Lamont’s political allies.

Susan Schnitzer is nervous. She heads the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants in Bridgeport, which isn’t sure if it will receive any money from Washington this year.

“We were expecting more of what happened the last time this administration was in place – that it would kind of be a slow – a slow decline,” she said. “Not really the hatchet job that’s happening.”

CIRI is one of a small handful of agencies in Connecticut that resettles refugees in Connecticut. The White House already canceled that contract in January, and it’s unclear what other funding is at risk.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Schnitzer said.

Lamont chose CIRI to host a ceremonial bill signing for $2.8 million headed for immigration and LQBTQ+ groups, as well as Planned Parenthood of Southern New England.

Nearly half a million dollars is going to CIRI, the Connecticut Immigrant and Refugee Coalition and IRIS – which is shutting down its New Haven office due to $4 million in funding cuts.

Gay and transgender rights groups are getting $1 million, including the Bridgeport and New Haven Pride Centers and Triangle Community Center in Norwalk.

“We are seeing the federal government target the most marginalized among us,” said Rachel Simon, the center’s executive director.

Simon said part of the funding will help patients from other states receive gender transition services in Connecticut.

Planned Parenthood is receiving $800 million.

Republicans called it a giveaway to Lamont’s political allies.

“None of these organizations were vetted. None of these people submit, you know, their budgets to us,” said Connecticut House GOP leader Vin Candelora (R-North Branford) last Wednesday. “So it’s a giveaway.”

Lamont shot back Monday.

“Planned Parenthood is not a political ally,” the governor said. “Planned Parenthood is fighting for women’s rights. I think that’s a bipartisan issue.”

Monday’s bill signing was quite an about-face for Lamont.

One week earlier, he vetoed the funding – arguing that the state can’t bail out every group targeted by the administration.

“These are 12 worthy not-for-profits – 15 – that said, ‘I’m getting hammered by Donald Trump’s DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency] cuts. I need help,’” Lamont said last Monday. “You’re going to have 12 more come up every week for the next six weeks.”

But now, the governor sees things differently.

“We have to take each circumstance as it comes up,” Lamont told reporters. “I thought this – given the timing, given the urgency – was so compelling that we wanted to do something. We wanted to do it in a fiscally responsible way."

Lamont reached a deal to move the spending outside the state budget after lawmakers threatened to override his veto. The governor also signed $40 million for special education funds.

Republicans slammed Lamont’s change of heart.

“I have never seen a governor in my life veto a bill and within three hours, change his mind and cut a deal that does the exact same thing we voted on last week – but it violates the principles of the fiscal guardrails that we put in place,” Candelora said.

Connecticut’s three largest immigration agencies are asking for $3 million in the next state budget.

Schnitzer said the money CIRI gets pays for itself.

“There’s more money going back into the state, because people are paying taxes,” she said. “People are purchasing things and utilizing usually local markets.”

In an average year, Schnitzer said that CIRI takes 5,000 immigrants. Many have become teachers and nurses, she said.