It was quite a step last week when Mark Polencarz, Erie County executive, stopped accepting migrants from New York City in the wake of two sex crimes arrests among migrants being housed in Cheektowaga.

The reversal came mere months after Polencarz said he wouldn’t be issuing a “morally repugnant” executive order over housing asylum seekers in Erie County.

We highlight Polencarz’ words because they were similar to the words spoken by countless well-intentioned Democratic Party officials as New York City became overrun with migrants sent north by border state governors who have found their social services and education systems overrun for decades because of federal inaction on immigration issues.

Those who opposed housing migrants were almost immediately called racist and xenophobic. Concerns about costs were dismissed because New York City was going to help pay for the migrants with the billion dollars it was given from New York state. Then it turned out those payments ended after four months despite migrants not being able to work legally for at least six months and in some cases longer because it takes so long for paperwork to be completed and filed. Those who raised questions about safety were disregarded — until Cheektowaga residents began dealing with safety issues. In addition to the two sex crimes cases, there have been complaints in Cheektowaga of migrants following people into stores to panhandle, trolling for work outside a Buffalo-area Home Depot, migrants sleeping on front lawns, a migrant who was sent to the Buffalo area despite having outstanding arrests in New York City and other low-level criminal complaints involving asylum seekers, according to the Buffalo News.

Republicans shouldn’t be so quick to claim victory. While the issues in Cheektowaga are concerning, police say the numbers of police responses to the hotels housing migrants have gone down since the migrants have been sent there — so crime is obviously not just a migrant issue. We do have employers throughout Western New York looking for people to work and a group of people ready, willing and able to work who are told they legally cannot. At the same time maybe Democrats are finally seeing firsthand the foolishness of the national immigration policy that has been created by Republicans and Democrats at the national level we can have the conversation — and action — on immigration that has been needed for decades. It’s easy to make political statements about Gov. Greg Abbott’s handling of migrants until you have to deal with it yourself.

There has to be a way to house asylum seekers and keep existing communities safe. There has to be a way to put these people to work so they can earn their way in society rather than waiting on handouts while their paperwork is processed. There has to be a way to vet migrants before sending them to new homes throughout the state or country. In short, it’s time for a plan doesn’t involve playing political games.