BOSTON -- State Department of Social Service workers were scheduled to head to the airport Friday to try to deal with the controversy sparked by a federal raid on undocumented workers in New Bedford this week.

NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that 150 immigrants who were working at the Michael Bianco Inc., leather factory were sent to a detention center in Texas, but now the state is going to send social workers there looking for pregnant women, minors and some single mothers -- most from El Salvador and Guatemala -- whose children were left behind.

Gov. Deval Patrick heard one tragic story after another from some of the families of the workers who packed into a New Bedford church Thursday night to tell him their stories.

"There were stories of humiliation, of fear, of anxiety and uncertainty," Patrick said.

Tuesday, 361 undocumented workers at the Michael Bianco factory were arrested by federal authorities and taken to the former Fort Devens military base and then flown to a detention center in Harlingen, Texas, on Wednesday. Some 116 others were flown to New Mexico on Thursday. The detainees remaining in Massachusetts were transferred to local jails, except for those who have been released on humanitarian grounds, and the Devens facility has now been vacated,

Many of the workers were separated from their families. One woman was released because she is breast-feeding a 7-month-old baby, but her husband was kept in detention. Two breast-fed babies were hospitalized for dehydration after being separated from their mothers.

Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Julie Myers said ICE agents asked each of the those arrested if they were sole caregivers to children.

Myers noted that 60 people were released as a result of that questioning. She said ICE was being unfairly criticized for allegedly not considering the needs of children affected by the arrests.

"Nothing could be further from the truth," she wrote in a letter to Patrick.

The state has identified at least 35 children whose parents were arrested, said JudyAnn Bigby, secretary of Health and Human Services. She said those children were staying with relatives or friends, but she added that it's important for state social workers to interview their parents to make sure the kids are staying with responsible adults. The state said it had found 29 foster homes in case they were needed.

There are other children who are either adolescents or had keys to their homes "and went home with no one there," Bigby said.

"They have not self-identified themselves. We have no idea how many that is," she said.

Patrick asked anyone with information about children in need of help to call 1-800-792-5200. He emphasized that the state has no role in turning illegal immigrants over to federal authorities.

Meanwhile, the leather factory -- which is under contract to the U.S. military -- reopened Thursday and began accepting applications for new workers. Authorities allege that the owenr oversaw sweatshop conditions so he could meet the demands of $91 million in U.S. military contracts.

The Defense Logistics Agency said Thursday it was suspending the company from bidding on future contracts. No changes were made to the firm's current $83.6 million contract with the agency.

The company, which has made products including safety vests and lightweight backpacks for the military, has also done work for the Army.

Investigators said the workers toiled in dingy conditions and faced onerous fines, such as a $20 charge for talking while working and spending more than two minutes in the bathroom.

New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang said it was outrageous, but added that he wants the company and jobs to remain in the city.

"I want the federal government to appoint a trustee, so that we make sure that this company, or these jobs, stay in New Bedford," Lang said. He added that he thought there were plenty of legal workers in the city who could fill the 500 positions now available at the factory.

The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Council said it is responding to the situation and trying to provide help.

"Hundreds of people are crowded into church basements trying to get more information and finding only chaos. It's utter chaos and everyone's afraid, everyone's in pain," Shuya Ohno said.

The group said it's looking for supplies and volunteers to help the families in crisis -- anyone from attorneys to caretakers.