BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, alongside county leaders from across the country, toured the southern border earlier this week to get a full look at what's happening there.
"We all came because we wanted to see this and to figure out are there better ways of ensuring that we're better prepared as local host communities no matter what it is. But also are there ways to prevent certain individuals from coming here," Poloncarz said during a press conference Friday.
Members of the National Association of Counties met U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Border Patrol officials and visited U.S. Department of Homeland Security facilities.
Poloncarz also crossed the border to visit a shelter for asylum seekers.
"It really is heartbreaking when you hear a story from a mom who has been sitting in a shelter for five months with a couple of kids. She's just trying to get the United States to Utah where she already has family, but she can't do it because of the way how the system is," Poloncarz said.
He said CBP officers told leaders that the majority of people coming into the country are trying to create a better life for themselves and their families.
"It's quite apparent from what I saw that there, of course, there is a huge issue that we're dealing with. This is a national issue that has to be resolved on a national level, local governments can't do it," Poloncarz added. "The bipartisan Immigration Reform Act from everything I heard from the people on the ground, including officers and others, they said it's never going to solve everything. There's no doubt about that, but it would make a difference because it would allow them to bring in more officers, hire more judges so that the cases are processed much faster."
He added that the National Association of Counties will be sending a joint letter to federal leaders asking them to address this ongoing issue at the border.
Poloncarz said localities across the country are dealing with the impact of the crisis at the border. In Erie County, 500 asylum seekers came from New York City last summer. Since then, Poloncarz said 125 of them have received work authorization.
"So they are legally working in the United States now, which is one of the reasons why people are leaving the hotels, they're making money, they now can pay for rent, they want to get out of the hotels," he said.
