CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — Western New York Republicans blasted the Poloncarz Administration Sunday after the County Executive announced Saturday he would be halting the arrival of migrants.
It comes after two reports of sexual assault in the past two weeks by asylum seekers — the first earlier this month between two migrants, and the most recent taking place at a Best Western in Cheektowaga Friday, reported by a 27-year-old working with the refugees.
Authorities say an asylum seeker allegedly trapped the woman in a storage room and touched her in a sexually inappropriate manner.
As a result, Poloncarz began calling for the removal of the migrants from the hotel as well as the arrival of the National Guard to be placed at all hotels housing refugees.
Despite his actions this weekend, Republicans are blaming the problem on Poloncarz’s decision-making in the first place.
“100% of the blame is on Mark Poloncarz,” said Republican candidate for Erie County Executive Chrissy Casilio. “There's no other person to blame but him because he is the one that decided to put politics over the people of Erie County. And now this is what we get.”
2 On Your Side reached out to Poloncarz’s office for a comment, but did not hear back.
On Saturday, the County Executive was quick to place the blame on New York Mayor Eric Adams’ office.
“Our community's trust and good faith has been betrayed,” he said. “We were assured of the safety, security and proper screening by New York City through DocGo. Clearly, that hasn't been done. … New York City needs to fix this.”
While Casilio blamed Poloncarz, she also said she is unsure of how she would handle the current situation.
"It's hard to imagine what I would do in this situation,” she said. “But any decision that I make ever, at any point, puts the best interest of Erie County residents first.”
While the migrant program with New York City is on hold until further notice, Polocarz added that refugees will continue to be welcomed through other avenues.
RELATED VIDEO: