Rochester mayor: We haven’t been asked to take in migrants and asylum-seekers
Rochester Mayor Malik Evans says city officials have not been asked to take in migrants and asylum-seekers. (Photo: Andy Heinze/WHEC)
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Six Western New York counties have declared states of emergency in response to the migrant and asylum-seeker crisis reaching the state.
Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, and Niagara counties are the latest to make those declarations, joining Genesee, Orleans, and Wyoming.
In Chautauqua County, 80 migrants have been housed in Jamestown since last November, but without federal government clearance.
County officials say they don’t have the resources to care for them.
News10NBC caught up with Gov. Kathy Hochul at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill. She said she embraces the opportunity to take people who are here legally seeking asylum if they can work.
“We’re looking at all locations, and we have a challenge here. We have over 71,000 people and more are arriving,” says Hochul. “This is a situation no one asked for, but we are dealing with it. I met with Mayor [Eric] Adams, in New York City, to talk about other spaces that can be made available as soon as possible. Right now, they’re putting people in school gymnasiums in New York City. We can do better than that.”
As for Rochester, Mayor Malik Evans says the city has not been asked to take in migrants.
“But again, it’s important for the federal government to understand this problem that has been longstanding for the last 20 years,” he said.
Monroe County officials tell us they’re not aware of any plans by the state to house migrants and asylum-seekers. Meanwhile, on Saturday, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said it is “morally repugnant” to ban housing migrants and asylum-seekers.