


The Big Apple has bussed more than 400 migrants up to Erie County in recent weeks as the city struggles with its ongoing asylum seeker crisis, officials said.
About 120 migrants were staying at a Cheektowaga hotel, just outside Buffalo, as of late last month, Erie County officials told Spectrum News.
Since then, the migrant toll has surged above 400 as a constant flow of buses have continued to arrive from the city.
The asylum seekers are currently spread across three hotels and are a mix of single adults and families, according to a community health provider contracted to help with the migrant arrivals.
“Right now we’re sort of holding until we can fully feel organized and comfortable with the amount that we have,” Anna Mongo, the chief program officer at Jericho Road Community Health Center, said.
“Because even with having a couple days in between, it’s a lot of people in a short amount of time.”
“Right now has been primarily about emergency response and making sure everybody is safe, secure and healthy,” Mongo continued.
“The next step will be more long-term case management.”

The second phase will include connecting migrants to health care, jobs, immigration processing and permanent living situations.
Mongo said the recent influx of migrants was a significant addition to her organization’s caseload.
The Erie County arrivals come after Mayor Eric Adams faced a flurry of lawsuits from other counties earlier this year — including Orange and Rockland — after the city started shipping migrants to local hotels as it struggled to find space for them across the five boroughs.

Meanwhile, Adams said roughly 2,800 migrants had arrived in the Big Apple last week alone — adding to the more than 90,000 who have poured in since April last year.
More than 54,800 asylum seekers are staying at one of the city’s 188 emergency shelter sites set up to deal with the surge.