CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — Dozens of asylum seekers are calling Western New York their home, at least for now.
Two buses with 50 people on board arrived in Erie County early Friday, according to the New York Immigration Coalition.
In a statement on Twitter, the coalition said upon their arrival, Jericho Road Community Health Center, Justice for Migrant Families, and Jewish Family Services Refugee and Immigrant Center for Healing welcomed Erie County's newest residents and are helping them get acclimated and addressing their immediate needs.
2 On Your Side has learned that asylum seekers will stay in 30 double-booked rooms in a hotel near the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, which have been reserved for one year.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said last month that this arrival will help alleviate some of the pressure currently on New York City, where according to Mayor Eric Adams, nearly half of the hotel rooms are filled with migrants.
"[They'll] be working with third parties like the local refugee resettlement agencies which the county deals with every day anyway, contracting with those third parties and paying them directly, so there would be no costs to the county," said Poloncarz.
Poloncarz said he doesn't feel Erie County will experience much change seeing as though New York City is footing the transportation and housing bill for the 60 migrants that arrived. Over the past decade, Erie County welcomed 12,000 refugees.
Jericho Road Community Health Center said on Twitter, "JRCHC is committed to caring for our neighbor. We intend to do this well. The folks coming in from NYC are asylum seekers. They have fled horrible situations and traveled a long and dangerous journey to get here. They are our neighbors and we welcome them. We know that as they find safety and refuge here, our City, State, and Nation will be better for it."
"Their burdens are heavy and their journey has been long, but Buffalo, the City of Good Neighbors, is well equipped for this care," said Dr. Myron Glick, JRCHC founder and CEO.
Some local leaders are concerned about future costs.
"There's going to be judges that are needed. There's so much strain already on our actual community. We just need these answers. It just, there's too many too many questions that have to be answered," said Erie County Legislator Frank Todaro.
We currently do not have a breakdown of how many men and women are in this group of 60 or what languages they speak. Officials say all of the migrants that arrived in Western New York have legally entered the country and have been vetted by federal authorities.
"Every day we have legal immigration going on in our community. Asylum seekers, refugees, and hundreds usually on a daily basis which we assimilate in the community or they move on. The federal government needs to come up and step up to the plate to deal with the migrant issue. They have not. Unfortunately, they are leaving it on the states and the local governments to do it," said Poloncarz.