Over the past week, asylum seekers from various countries have arrived in Western New York on buses from New York City.
To address the ongoing migrant crisis, Erie County’s Legislature hosted a discussion on asylum seekers on Thursday. Community Engagement Coordinator Flor Saldivar said that immigration organizations such as Jericho Road and Jewish Family Services are only requesting the public’s support at this time.
“As the senator said, I think there was just a lot of fearmongering going on," said Saldivar. "I didn't realize how big that was here. But I'm glad that I came here. And I think with the more reason just shedding more light, that it's not true that sometimes these fake narratives that are being set forth are negative. And they're meant to scare people into believing things that are not true.”
Saldivar also mentioned more buses are expected to arrive in Buffalo soon. She said that because the process is early on, the expected number of migrants on these buses is still unknown.