PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (WCAX) – Many migrant families heading north to try to cross the border into Canada often end up stuck in the Plattsburgh area, where the county and other organizations pitch in to help.
Every three weeks volunteers with the organization Plattsburgh Cares gather for a single purpose–filling hundreds of emergency aid bags.
The bags consist of homemade hats and gloves, canned foods, water, and a card with the words “peace, love, and safety” in different languages.
“People are just not seen. They are invisible, they are in crisis, they do not speak the language, they do not know how to ask for help, they do not have a backup plan. These are people that have gone to the end of the world, so to speak, to try and find safety,” said the group’s Kathy Sajor.
The emergency bags are handed out to immigrant families who end up in Plattsburgh while heading north to try to cross the border.
“Most of the people are not here. They are trying to get into Canada. They are not coming to Clinton County to stay in Clinton County, that’s our experience,” said Christine Peters, Clinton County’s commissioner of social services.
The promise of asylum in Canada attracted thousands of migrants to the irregular border crossing on Roxham Road in Champlain, New York, before Canada shut it down just about a year ago. Add to that historic influx of migrants crossing illegally were many that found themselves stuck in the Plattsburgh area, where most of the county’s services are located.
“Most often we are asking them if they have resources in other areas of the country and that is really what they want,” Peters said. The migrants included people from all corners of the globe, including Mexico, South America, and Africa. She says the county’s social services budget this year is $49 million, some of which is used to provide short-term assistance to those migrants who qualify. That includes bus tickets to New York City and even other parts of the country. “We have sent people to Texas, we have sent people to Washington state, we have sent people to Florida. There is really kind of no… we do not have a limit because we want to send them to where they have people.”
Peters says it’s unclear how many migrants are living in the county at any one time, though they do have numbers for how many migrants were put into local motels under the Code Blue Rule that shelters people when temperatures dip below freezing. In a five-month span starting in October, the total number of migrants housed was almost 190 households. “Last month we probably had 13% of the individuals that presented for after-hours were migrants. So, it varies, it really does ebb and flow. We do not really see any patterns, we have been looking for them and we do not see them,” Peters said.
An issue that, in part, has led the Clinton County Legislature to pass a resolution calling on the state and federal government to send more resources to the northern border. Peters and officials with Plattsburgh Cares say until that happens, it’s their job to help people looking for a better life.
“I know our community did not ask to be kind of on this route. It is nothing that we have encouraged or promoted, but they are in our community,” said Diana Wardell, a Plattsburgh Cares volunteer.
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