Jewish Family Services begins screening asylum seekers

BUFFALO, NY — 2 On Your Side is reporting on asylum seekers staying in hotels in Western New York. Jewish Family Services now screens them to help them find new housing.

State Sen. Sean Ryan said Jewish Family Services has begun the process of screening families to find them new apartments with the goal of getting everyone out of hotels by the start of the new year.

“There are people right now looking for locations, so you know, we’re really optimistic that it’s going to go quickly, and it’s going to go smoothly, but it’s going to have a good impact everywhere,” the senator said of state. Sean Ryan.

In May, we learned that Jewish Family Services and the City of New York intended to enter into a contract worth more than $22 million to help move asylum seekers from Western New State York out of their temporary accommodation in hotels.

“We’re giving families the choice of where they want to live, and so we’re going to give them a choice, so it’s really going to be focused on where people think they want to live. Some people already have jobs and they might want to move closer to their jobs, but I know, you know, the Amherst school districts have been so welcoming to these families, I have a feeling a lot of them are going to try to stay there. Amherst,” said State Sen. Sean Ryan.

State Sen. Sean Ryan said it will be a priority to place elementary school children and their families in apartments this summer so they can start the school year in their new home. 539 asylum seekers have been living for several months in three hotels in Amherst and Cheektowaga.

“New York City was paying a lot of money to keep people in hotels, and for a fraction of that cost we could put people in their own apartments and give them a lot of wraparound services to integrate them into America, into our economy and in our school districts,” said State Senator Sean Ryan.

Clients of this program must have a path to more permanent legal immigration status.

“It allows JFS to help people get their work permits, help them get jobs, help them get into job training programs, because we want those three hundred or so adults, we want that “They’re entering our economy as quickly as possible,” said State Sen. Sean Ryan.

This program is also used in other areas of the state. According to the state’s website, the Migrant Resettlement Assistance program will help pay up to a year’s rent. There are also several rules that people must follow to stay in the program.