Cheektowaga, N.Y. (WBEN) - Several weeks have elapsed since speculation started circulating about a migrant influx coming to Erie County following the end of Title 42. Fast forward to today and the arrival of about 60 migrants, largely in the background, in Cheektowaga via bus, seeking asylum in a local hotel.
Related
Many questions still loom with regards to the migrant influx. Will there be more? How many more? How many can Erie County accommodate? These questions are queries that many elected city, county and state elected officials can't answer, not because they are sworn to secrecy, but because they haven't been informed in advance.
"I was not aware of it until I heard the news today," said New York State Sen. Patrick Gallivan on Thursday. "I hope that New York City, the mayor of the city, or city officials, have been in touch with Cheektowaga officials or Erie County officials to help coordinate this. I don't know if that's taken place or not. But I think the communication between communities is extremely important to ensure that on our end of it here, in Western New York, or in the town of Cheektowaga, that they are not saddled with a responsibility that they're not ready for."
Sen. Gallivan said one thing is known, New York City will bear the responsibility for paying for the migrants hotels.
LISTEN LIVE TO WBEN:
State Sen. Sean Ryan was also not made aware of the migrants coming to Cheektowaga, but he does know there is some type of plan in place to help aid migrants.
"We have an agreement worked out through the state, in the city of New York, that any asylees who do come to Western New York, there'll be supported with services from our refugee resettlement programs, the Jericho Roads, the Jewish Family Services. So I don't know anything specifically about this group of people, but I do know that anyone who does get resettled into Western New York will come with services to help them find housing, employment, [and] get [their] kids in enrolled in school."
Sen. Gallivan acknowledges that citizens are concerned with whether or not our governing bodies are being transparent.
"The public should be aware of what goes on if government resources are being expended. We hear that complaint very often from people. They understand decisions have to be made, but at the very least, it is our tax dollars that are being spent, our lives, our communities being affected. We have a right to know these things. A lack of sharing information amongst government officials can create a lot of angst and it appears that that's something that we have right now."
In addition, Sen. Gallivan says that, to his knowledge, there have not been extensive conversations with New York City, the Governor's office and the full state legislature as a whole regarding a more long-term housing solution for migrants. However, it's important to keep in mind the people coming to seek asylum have to go through a very long process.
"The process takes quite a long time, unfortunately and that's something for Washington to figure out. But if they're going through that process, they are, at least for the time being, they are here legally, and they're entitled to be. But that doesn't mean that it's okay for one community to essentially put its responsibilities on another community without working in cooperation with them."
Sen. Ryan, as mentioned on more than one occasion, says he does expect more migrants arriving, as they usually arrive in waves and not all at once. Assessments for housing has been looked at in the short-term, but long-term still remains a serious question.
"We're still trying to figure out the best way to resettle people here. We looked at college campuses for sort of short-term relief, and that didn't really work because a lot of the campuses already had their dorms booked up in the summer for sports events. So that didn't work. We're still looking at August and September, if there's dorms that aren't going to be filled, perhaps housing people there for, sort of longer-term housing, still working through that whole process. Keep in mind there's areas of the City of Buffalo that have over 20% vacancy in apartments. We wouldn't mind getting those apartments filled up with with people who are going to go to work every day and enroll their kids in school."