UPDATE: Members of the National Guard began arriving late Friday morning to the Holiday Inn in downtown Rochester, having been deployed there by Gov. Kathy Hochul in response to local leaders' requests for additional assistance with migrants bused to the hotel from New York City.
Those deployed in Monroe and Erie County — 27 in Monroe County, 123 in all (including a command center in Erie County) — are from Western New York, officials said. They will work in shifts, maintaining a 24-7 presence at the hotel.
In a statement Friday afternoon, City Council Vice President Mary Lupien and colleagues Stanley Martin and Kim Smith, called on Hochul to pull back the Guard and send housing, workforce training and education resources instead.
"In our view, this measure is unacceptable, and overpolices an incredibly vulnerable group of people in our city," the statement read, continuing later: "Rochester is a Sanctuary City, and our new residents must be welcomed with open arms — not met with excessive scrutiny."
They encouraged residents who are able to support the migrants with donations of clothes, hygiene products and other necessities.
The original story continues below.
New York National Guard members are expected to arrive Friday at the downtown Holiday Inn where dozens of migrants are being housed after being bused here from New York City.
Officials say 27 Guard members are being sent to assist with a group of just over 40 asylum seekers, many if not most of whom are children.
"This isn't a police force that's coming to be at the hotel,” said Monroe County Executive Adam Bello, who asked for the added assistance. “The mission of the National Guard, as the governor's office has described to me, is going to be primarily logistical operational support, which I think will help with the whole overall security picture of the hotel."
Though mentioning security the county executive otherwise backed off the characterization by his administration and other elected leaders that the Guard was being summoned to provide security. Instead the focus turned to filling gaps now being covered by nonprofits -- helping distribute food and water, legal materials and other basics.
New York City has been overwhelmed by the arrival of 100,000 asylum-seekers since last spring, and in recent months began busing hundreds to communities upstate. The city hired a private company DocGo to coordinate that effort. But things have not gone smoothly.
The first — and so far, only — buses sent to Rochester arrived here last Monday, ferrying 77 migrants, most of whom are children. Three families, totaling more than 20 people, immediately asked to go back, saying they were not told where or how far away from New York City they were being sent.
Order or chaos?
Monroe County thus far has not seen the disorganization faced by other communities, Bello said.
But Legislator Merecedes Vazquez-Simons, D-Rochester, who has visited the hotel, described a scene of “pure chaos,” with people confused about why they were brought here.
“When you first hear that, you know, ‘I feel that I've been kidnapped, I have no idea where I am,’ that's alarming,” she said, relaying the account of one migrant she met. “And that should be taken seriously. This is her feelings. And then to hear their stories. It's quite remarkable that they were still somewhat positive."
“It was a defining moment, certainly for me, as to what is it that we're doing?”
Frustration over the situation is shared by Bello, who put the blame squarely on the failures of Washington.
“Where's the national government, the administration, on this; to create a rational, reasonable, responsible plan for how to manage this?” he asked. “And that's what the frustration you see across local governments is. … I don't manage immigration policy. My job is to manage what happens in my community, right? And that’s what we’re doing.”
More deployments
Bello said the 27 service members being deployed here are "a good start." Vazquez-Simmons, though, said it's premature and questioned the reasoning.
"I personally have been calling for the National Guard due to the violence in our communities,” she said, noting her northeast district has one of the highest crime rates in the county. "I've been screaming for the National Guard for that. So it's troubling to me that it's been brought in for that reason."
That reason she referred to was the one previously given.
The administration said in a statement Monday that Bello asked Gov. Kathy Hochul for "additional resources for security … after observing recent occurrences in other counties hosting asylees."
A spokesperson for the county executive declined to single out Erie County. But a deployment under the same command arrived there Wednesday, requested in response to two reported sexual assaults that allegedly involved migrants.
To date, Hochul has deployed more than 1,800 Guard members to communities housing asylum seekers.
In a statement Wednesday, DocGo officials said they “welcome the state’s decision to involve the National Guard."
The statement continued: "Their commitment to provide enhanced security at upstate sites allows DocGo to concentrate on our project's foundational mission: offering medical care, social work, case management, and other vital services that uphold the health and basic human dignity of asylees.”
Bello said the state also promised to assist with public health needs and to bring in additional legal services to help expedite the asylum process.
