Asylum-seekers, migrants and refugees have long looked to the United States for shelter from economic and political turmoil. As they continue to arrive in upstate New York from New York City, the migrants and local communities are both confronting confusion and uncertainty.
Since last spring close to 100,000 newcomers have arrived in New York City alone. They hail from Central and South America, Africa and China. Their numbers have overwhelmed the Big Apple and Mayor Eric Adams contracted with DocGo to move them out. They've been bused upstate to municipalities who say they were unprepared to receive them, places like Colonie, Albany and Rotterdam.
In Rotterdam, the concern seems to be rooted in fears of higher taxation. Residents spoke at Wednesday's town board meeting.
"The asylum-seekers are here. It's not their fault that they're here. But it shouldn't be on the backs of taxpayers of Rotterdam,” said Brenda Torosian.
“Our taxes are going to be raised? Because now we have to provide for them? It never happened for me. Or my blood,” said Michael Vischer.
“I understand a lot of you are against migrants and some of you for. I understand both sides. But this is a mess. This isn't just a mess, it’s like a car accident. We can argue about who's right or wrong, but we have to just clean it up," said David Dwyer.
Nothing has cemented that feeling of uncertainty more than DocGo's failure to communicate with anyone, including media outlets like WAMC, community-oriented associations, not-for-profits and government entities, as Democratic Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan will attest.
"We have expressed our frustration, we have talked about the reports that we're hearing of spoiled meals, of inadequate meals, of the inadequacy of the food, of the conditions at the hotels, of the, I learned from a reporter of the documents that were being given to individuals indicating that they could legally work as a 1099 contractor," Sheehan said. "All of these things are things that DocGo certainly should know about, and have been discussed and deflected and deflected and deflected. So thus, the frustration that we have.”
Many of the newcomers have struggled and sacrificed to arrive in a new land where they're not sure they are wanted or welcome. Speaking in Albany, Mickey Jiminez with Capital District Latinos says migrants have walked miles from area hotels just to visit the center.
"And we have put a sign that Mondays and Fridays we cannot open to the public because we basically cannot get our work done," said Jiminez. "But when they came to the door yesterday, and the bus drove away from SureStay from Colonie, and there were children, we had to let them in. So we fed them and gave them clothing. And we also allowed them to select what food they could take from the food pantry, because it's an off week, so we didn't have a lot. And what we did have was bagels and coffee. And you would have thought that we gave them the best meal that they've had in a long time because it was warm. And a woman had started crying when we gave her the coffee. I said, 'Well, why are you crying? It's just coffee, she said.' But in our country, a cup of coffee says 'Welcome to our home.' So that's what's missing. I don't know how this company DocGo is supposed to be working. We've attempted, just like our officials here, to make calls. I've had social workers that volunteer for me show up to the hotels, and they're not allowing them to speak to them."
This week buses carrying buses from New York arrived in Rochester. Officials say Governor Kathy Hochul is aware of the situation and has been advocating at the federal level. Mayor Adams is calling on President Biden to declare a state of emergency to manage the crisis at the border as Capital Region school districts scramble to prepare for an influx of migrant children before September.
