Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist is pictured during a rally in June 2022 at the city Municipal Building. P-J file photo

The city administration is working with county, state and federal partners to address the recent increase of migrants in the Jamestown community — though Mayor Eddie Sundquist noted rumors of “bus loads” of migrants coming to the city are unfounded.

Sundquist told The Post-Journal he has personally met with the migrant families that have relocated to Jamestown. Sundquist said there are currently five or six migrant families that have migrated to Jamestown. He added that at least one of the migrant families had a prior connection to Jamestown.

“They are all seeking asylum, so they’re here legally,” he said. “They all have asylum court dates to be heard on the application. What’s difficult is while they are seeking asylum, most of their photo identification was confiscated or lost when they came over the border, so they have to seek identification numbers in order to work.”

Sundquist said the migrants have been working with friends and family to find adequate living situations. He added that his administration has been working with local churches to help support the migrant families.

According to Sundquist, his administration has been “focused on helping people” throughout his term as mayor.

“We put people first in almost everything we’ve done, whether that’s the creation of homeless shelters or others,” he said. “We’re working with those providing direct services, and we’re really asking that if there are other churches or nonprofits or other organizations that are interested in stepping forward to help provide services for these families, we would certainly welcome it and love to have that support.”

Additionally, Sundquist said the city has been coordinating with county, state and federal partners to secure the resources needed to help the migrant families in Jamestown. Sundquist indicated that the increase in migration reflects a “much larger” national issue that will require a “larger” strategy by the federal government.

While Sundquist acknowledged the statewide challenge of accessing resources for the increase in migration, he said the city has been able to find some resources to address the issue.

“There have not been a tremendous amount of statewide resources for this,” he said. “However, in working with our federal partners, including Schumer’s office, we were made aware of several FEMA grants for individuals that have been released from DHS custody.”

Sundquist explained that the city has been working with the churches that have been providing support for the migrant families in order to secure reimbursement funding.

Apart from city officials utilizing some of their time to address the increase in migration, Sundquist said the city has not provided any of its funding for the migrant population.

“We’re really just working to coordinate services,” he said.

Although Sundquist said the city is seeing an “uptick” in migration and the need for more resources, he explained that rumors of migrants coming by “bus loads” are unfounded.

“The city is no stranger to immigration and migration,” he said. “Being surrounded by rural farmland, we’ve seen migrant workers. That’s no real change for us. The same thing occurs in Dunkirk as well. There’s just a broader need for a way to deal with our migrant population.”

Sundquist noted that it is encouraging to see people “making Jamestown their home” and choosing Jamestown as a place to “pursue the American dream,” especially since the last city census showed that Jamestown was gradually losing population.

Having spoken to those families, Sundquist said the migrant families want to work and contribute to the community.

“They have incredible trades and they want to contribute,” he said. “That’s been the struggle here because the government is saying you can’t without identification. That’s one of the reasons why it’s important that our migrant population is able to get the information that they need in order to have jobs and contribute.”

While the city works to secure resources to support the increase in migration to Jamestown, Sundquist said his administration is closely monitoring the situation and proactively working with its partners.

Sundquist believes increased migration to Jamestown can bring “increased diversity” to the city and can be viewed as a positive development.

“To have individuals that have trades from other countries that can help support the work we do, that can fill the jobs that we have open, and we have so many incredible jobs open, is a really important thing,” he said.