JAMESTOWN, NY – On this small town – about so far as you’ll be able to get from the southern border without entering Canada – residents are bracing for an influx of migrants that might cause a crisis similar to New York’s facing a fiscal cliff .
“If a city of 8 million might be overwhelmed by a number of thousand migrants, imagine what a number of hundred can do to overwhelm a small rural community upstate?” state alert, Senator Joe Borrello (R-Jamestown).
“It doesn’t take many migrants to overwhelm the system,” he added.
At the very least 35 Colombian migrants are known to have arrived in the small upstate town since late last 12 months, and others are alive and in the shadows, and definitely on their way, a top Hispanic spokesman told The Post.
Locals became aware of the brand new arrivals after a volunteer from the Chautauqua County Hispanic Community Council overheard one speaking with a Colombian accent in a Tops supermarket, council president Max Martin said.
According to the U.S. Census, the town has a population of 28,393, of whom 10.6% are Hispanic. Martin said that by the point the migrants arrived, the Hispanic community consisted almost entirely of Puerto Ricans.
“Colombians are already here and more are coming. What’s the federal government going to do about it? » asked Martin. “They need housing and transport or a piece permit and a driver’s license.”
But without help, warned Martin, “they’ll have to work illegally to survive.”
“Many of them have already been given fake numbers and social security cards. I worry that they might be forced to commit against the law like selling drugs,” he said.
Most migrants made their way to Jamestown on their very own after learning concerning the city from other people crossing the border in El Paso, Texas, several told The Post in Spanish translated by Martin.
“I used to be in detention for 2 months,” said a migrant named Paola. “While I used to be in custody, I met a Colombian who told me to come to Jamestown.”
Paola, 29, shares a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house with 10 other migrants, including two young children and two teenagers.
Roommates include a married couple, Mayerly and David, each 23, who work with Paola at a neighborhood thrift store, where they spoke to The Post.
![Carlos worked as a construction worker in Ibagué.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/jamestown-new-york-migrants-23.jpg?w=1024)
Mayerly said their house was so crowded that “I even have to make an appointment for the toilet.”
“Kids go first in the morning to get to school,” she said.
Her husband said they settled about 70 miles south of Buffalo because “On the border, we had to give them the address of someone who would receive us.”
“A friend told us about Jamestown,” said David. “We spent our last money on a flight from El Paso to Buffalo.”
A 30-year-old woman named Brenda – whose sister is one of the primary migrants to arrive in Jamestown – said she and her two children followed her siblings and arrived there in November.
![Brenda had told him about Jamestown when they were in custody together.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/jamestown-new-york-migrants-18.jpg?w=1024)
“An increasing number of Colombians are coming to Jamestown,” Brenda said in Spanish. “The family arrived two weeks ago. I do know one other family with children coming from Texas now.”
Brenda, who was a nurse in Ibagué, about 50 miles west of the capital Bogotá, said her husband “remains to be serving in the military in Colombia” and that he would “apply for asylum for the protection of my children.”
“It is very dangerous for my children in Colombia because of the gangs,” she said. “There may be nothing there for my children. It’s safer for my kids here in Jamestown.”
Brenda and her children share a dilapidated home with one other immigrant named Ricaurte, 52, who said she told him about Jamestown once they were in custody together.
The home is owned by an Amish construction boss who’s friends with Max Martin.
“During immigration, they asked for somebody’s phone number in America. I gave them the phone number and address of Brenda’s sister in Jamestown,” Ricaurte said.
Ricaurte said he served in the military under a government that was replaced when leftist former M-19 rebel Gustavo Petro was elected president in June.
“When the brand new government made a peace treaty with the guerrillas, the guerrillas want to kill the military that was against them. If I stay in Colombia, my life will probably be in danger,” he said.
![The Jamestown community is home to over 30 Colombian families and is growing.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/jamestown-new-york-migrants-22.jpg?w=1024)
The Post also visited a three-bedroom, one-bath house home to 13 migrants, including six children aged 3 to 15, and had three beds in the front room.
Throughout the deadly snowstorm that engulfed the region last month, there was no heating for 3 days, almost certainly due to a frozen gas pipe, said 33-year-old resident Carlos.
“We put film on the windows and wore coats inside,” said Carlos. “The kids went to the so-called [hot air] vents, in search of warmth.
Carlos said his wife and two daughters lived there with him until he sent them away from cramped conditions to live along with his wife’s brother in Chicago.
“I’m afraid I won’t give you the option to afford the rent. I don’t need my children to be homeless,” he said.
Carlos, who worked as a construction employee in Ibagué, said he “didn’t want to risk working illegally because I used to be facing deportation.”
And if he went to Chicago, Carlos said, “I’m afraid I’m going to have to start the immigration process all another time. My papers say Jamestown.
Martin, president of the borough council, said, “It was a shock to see so many Hispanics from Colombia coming to Jamestown.”
“The rationale is the open border,” he said. “By the way in which, I might do the identical, because of the liberty and opportunities we now have in America. You may come here poor and get wealthy for those who work your butt off.
“The cold weather and the language barrier is not going to make them leave,” he added.
Jamestown Democratic Mayor Eddie Sundquist didn’t immediately respond to a request for an interview with The Post.
But Chautauqua’s Republican district director PJ Wendel said he was concerned concerning the situation developing in Jamestown and sought help from Governor Kathy Hochul and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), whose assistants offered no help.
“Even when it’s 100 families, our college districts are small,” said Wendel. “These schools do not have the resources. In the event that they do not have a Spanish teacher, what are they going to do?”
Wendel added: “It may possibly be overwhelming for us because how are we supposed to help these people?”
Spokesmen for Hochul and Schumer didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.