Tiny upstate city faces NYC-like migrant surge: ‘It doesn’t take much to overwhelm the system’

JAMESTOUN, New York. In this small town, about as far as one can get from the southern border without entering Canada, residents are bracing for an influx of migrants that could spark a crisis similar to the one in which New York City hit a financial cliff. .

“If a city of 8 million people can be taken over by a couple of thousand migrants, imagine what a couple of hundred can do to overwhelm a small rural community upstate?” State Senator Joe Borrello (R-Jamestown) warned.

“It doesn’t take many migrants to overwhelm the system,” he added.

At least 35 migrants from Colombia are known to have arrived in the tiny upstate town since late last year, with others believed to be alive, in the shadows and likely on their way, a leading Hispanic advocate told The Post.

Local residents became aware of the new arrivals after a volunteer from the Chatoqua County Hispanic Community Council last month heard one of them speak in a Colombian accent at a Tops supermarket, council president Max Martin said.

Dan Capellazzo for NY Post

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Dan Capellazzo for NY Post

Dan Capellazzo for NY Post

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The city’s population is 28,393, according to the United States Census, of which 10.6% is Hispanic. According to Martin, before the migrants arrived, the Hispanic community was almost exclusively Puerto Rican.

“Colombians are already here and there will be more of them. What is the government going to do about it?” Martin asked. “They need housing and transportation or a work permit and a driver’s license.”

But without help, Martin warned, “they would have to work illegally to survive.”

“Many of them have already been offered fake numbers and social security cards. I worry that they may be forced into criminal activities such as selling drugs,” he said.

Most of the migrants traveled to Jamestown on their own, having learned about the city from their comrades crossing the border in El Paso, Texas.

“I was detained for two months,” said a migrant woman named Paola. “When I was in custody, I met a Colombian who told me to come to Jamestown.”

Paola, 29, lives in a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home with 10 other migrants, including two young children and two teenagers.

Housemates include a married couple, Myerly and David, both 23, who work with Paola at a local thrift store, where they spoke to The Post.

Mayerly said their house is so crowded that “I need to make an appointment to use the bathroom.”

“Kids go first thing in the morning so they can get to school,” she said.

Her husband said they ended up living about 70 miles south of Buffalo because “at the border, we had to give them the address of a person who would receive us.”

“A friend told us about Jamestown,” David said. “We spent the last of our money on a flight from El Paso to Buffalo.”

A 30-year-old woman named Brenda, whose sister is one of the first migrants to arrive in Jamestown, said she and her two children followed her brother and sister there and arrived there in November.

“More Colombians are coming to Jamestown,” Brenda said in Spanish. “The family arrived two weeks ago. I know another family with kids from Texas.”

Brenda, who worked as a nurse in Ibaga, about 50 miles west of the capital Bogota, said her husband was “still serving in the military in Colombia” and that she “will apply for asylum for the safety of my children.”

“Columbia is very dangerous for my kids because of the gangs,” she said. “There is nothing for my children. It’s safer for my kids here in Jamestown.”

Brenda and her children live in a dilapidated house with another migrant named Ricaurte, 52, who said he told him about Jamestown while they were incarcerated together.

The house is owned by an Amish construction boss who is friends with Max Martin.

“In immigration, they asked for the phone number of someone in America. I gave them the phone number and address of Sister Brenda in Jamestown,” Ricaurte said.

Ricaurte said he served in the army under a government that was replaced when leftist former M-19 rebel Gustavo Petro was elected president in June.

“When the new government concluded a peace treaty with the partisans, the partisans want to kill the military who were against them. If I stay in Colombia, my life will be in danger,” he said.

The Post also visited a three-bedroom, one-bath home that was home to 13 migrants, including six children aged 3 to 15, and had three beds in the living room.

During the deadly blizzard that swept the region last month, the area was without heat for three days, most likely due to a frozen gas pipe, according to a 33-year-old resident of Carlos.

“We covered the windows with plastic and put on our coats inside,” Carlos said. “The children continued to go to [hot air] ventilation in search of warmth.

Carlos said that his wife and two daughters lived there with him until he sent them out of the cramped quarters to live with his wife’s brother in Chicago.

“I’m worried that I won’t be able to afford the rent. I don’t want my children to be homeless,” he said.

Carlos, who worked as a construction worker in Ibague, said he “doesn’t want to risk working illegally because I risk being deported.”

And if he goes to Chicago, Carlos said, “I’m afraid I’ll have to start the immigration process all over again. My papers say “Jamestown.”

Martin, president of the community council, said: “It was a shock to see so many Hispanics from Colombia coming to Jamestown.”

“The reason is the open border,” he said. “By the way, I would do the same because of the freedom and opportunity that we have in America. You can come here poor and get rich if you work hard.

“Cold weather and the language barrier won’t make them leave,” he added.

Jamestown Democrat Mayor Eddie Sandquist did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for an interview.

But Republican Chatauqua County Executive P. J. Wendel said he was concerned about the situation unfolding in Jamestown, and has asked Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for help, whose aides are doing nothing. suggested.

“Even if it’s 100 families, our school districts are small,” Wendel said. “These schools don’t have the resources. If they don’t have a Spanish teacher, what are they going to do?”

Wendel added: “This can be overwhelming for us, because how are we supposed to help these people?”

Representatives for Hohul and Schumer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.