New York county begs Eric Adams to stop sending illegal immigrants as rape, sex assaults rise

An Erie Country official in Upstate New York has told New York City Mayor Eric Adams to stop sending migrants into the county amid rising sexual assault and crime.  

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said in a statement on Saturday that he "demanded Mayor Adams pause all further transportation of asylum seekers to our community until such time as we can resolve all security issues." 

In order to create a "stabilizing presence" at the hotels in the county, Poloncarz said that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul "has agreed to place National Guard members at each of the hotels." 

Poloncarz closed his statement saying that the Biden administration and the United States Congress must act to solve the immigration crisis and "implement comprehensive immigration reform." 

The announcement comes after two alleged sexual assault involving migrants in Erie Country which covers the city of Buffalo.  

A migrant coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo was arrested on Friday and is being charged with sexual abuse and unlawful imprisonment after assaulting an employee in a Cheektowaga hotel.  

"The victim is a 27-year-old female from Buffalo who was working at the hotel as employed by Platinum Community Care, one of the agencies providing services to the asylum seekers,” the Cheektowaga Police Department Chief Brian Gould said in a press conference.  

Chief Gould asked for the "immediate discontinued use of the Best Western hotel and Dingens Street" after the incident took place. The hotel is in residential area and causing safety concerns for the families nearby.  

Erie County Republican legislators in a statment on Saturday, said, "This comes just days after a self-purported asylum seeker that was shipped here from NYC was charged with raping a woman in front of a 3-year old child." 

"Mark Poloncarz should be ashamed for making our community less safe, for ridiculing those who didn’t trust that the system in place was working, for trusting that New York City and Albany had our best interests at heart," it continued.  

Just 540 migrants were brought into Erie County and officials are asking that they be removed from hotels.  

A spokesman for Hochul said in a statement, “Sexual assault is a horrific crime... The Governor is grateful to Erie County law enforcement for their work in this matter and has directed State personnel to provide all necessary support." 

Hochul has announced plans to send the National Guard to assist in Erie County with the situation.