While some have lingering questions about the cost and impact of asylum-seekers being bused here from New York City, an advocate said Erie County is doing a better job than other communities at coordinating efforts and getting asylum seekers resettled with as little disruption as possible.
Meghan Maloney De Zaldivar, a director with the New York Immigration Coalition, said that compared with how asylum-seekers have been dropped off and processed in other parts of the state, Erie County’s process has been far more successful.
“Both in the Hudson Valley, as well as in Albany, folks were given very, very short notice that people were arriving,” she said. “And there wasn’t a lot of communication with local government, whereas here, we would always love more coordination, but there were conversations and coordination with local organizations.”
Over the past two weeks, about 125 asylum-seekers have been transported in five buses to Erie County and settled at a Cheektowaga hotel near the airport. They have been met by resettlement caseworkers with Jericho Road and other partnering agencies.
Maloney De Zaldivar was a representative for one of several agencies that appeared before the Erie County Legislature’s Government Affairs Committee on Thursday to discuss what’s happening with asylum-seekers.
The fact that DocGo, the New York City contractor responsible for busing migrants to other parts of the state and finding shelter for them, has formal contracts with immigrant resettlement agencies here made a big difference, Maloney De Zaldivar said. So is the fact that County Executive Mark Poloncarz has not attempted to block the transport of migrants to the county.
“That has allowed people to be on the ground from the start,” she said.
As an organizing director who has helped oversee efforts in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany, she said there’s a big difference between volunteer organizations trying to help an out-of-town…
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