Frontpage Mag by
“These people are not a threat to our community”
Here was what Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz had to say in May about the upstate New York area getting a flood of illegal alien migrants.
“I have been advised by representatives of New York State that we will soon be joined by an as-yet unknown number of asylum-seekers, people who have been forced out of their own countries by authoritarian rulers or for other serious life-threatening reasons. These individuals are all legally in the country seeking asylum, have been vetted by federal authorities prior to arriving here and will be coming from New York City.”
“It should be noted, over the past decade and more, approximately 12,000 refugees have moved into and through our area as part of the good work that the Refugee Partnership does, all without fanfare and without the ridiculous fears stoked by xenophobic and ill-informed community members. Some stay here and some move on but all of these people come here seeking to build their own American dream, provide for themselves and their families, and become productive members of our society.
“In fact, due to the exemplary work of the Refugee Partnership, currently there are hundreds of refugees and asylum-seekers in Erie County from countries as diverse as Afghanistan, Congo, Ecuador, Somalia, Ukraine, Venezuela and more. These people are not a threat to our community and are only looking for the opportunity to pursue their dream of living in a free, democratic society.”
Now, Mark has changed his tune…
