Federal Government: Help Us Help People
Last week Congressman Mike Lawler, Rockland County Social Services Commissioner Joan Silvestri, along with Juan Mena, Sloatsburg Food Pantry Board Member, Anita Dreichler, Rockland Community Against Hunger Coordinator, and Rosie Samudio, Director of WestCOP, and myself held a joint press conference to shed light on the significant impact immigration is having in our County.
What sparked it? Our Social Services staff notifying my office about strains they were seeing in Rockland due to many new individuals settling into the area. We further investigated the matter by having a representative from my office going out into the community daily to speak with organizations, schools, and non-profit agencies on the frontlines.
In that investigation we discovered over the last six months the impacts included:
- Food pantries running out of food
- +1,000 kids enrolled in a local district
- 35% increase in children under foster care
Elaborating further, the numbers provided by the Rockland County Food Bank Member Statistics reveal in June of 2019 there were 37,826 persons served per month and in December of 2022 it was 79,432. Of our 62 foster children, nearly a third are undocumented migrants.
Lifeboats are a great tool to rescue people, but a lifeboat can only rescue so many. If you put too many people into one eventually it’s going to capsize which is where we all fear things are heading and why we collectively gathered our voices last week to share those concerns.
Assumptions that this was an anti-immigration political stunt were wrong. Our goal, including the organizations that stood alongside me, was to shed light on the extensive needs of these individuals who are migrating here that includes clothes, medical care, education, and food.
A pathway to legalization needs to be provided so these individuals can be eligible to the same resources, opportunities, and salaries as everyone else, which is the true embodiment of the American dream. Without one they remain a victim of unsafe housing, unlivable wages, and without access to services. They’re coming here with the inclination they’ll be able to start a new life filled with opportunity but unfortunately the old and outdated immigration system is not providing them the means to do so.
What’s the cost of a child who can’t learn? What’s the cost of a person living in an unsafe fire-trap hazard? The bottom line is we need help & we need it now. It is the federal government’s responsibility to help us help these families and individuals resettling into our community.
Without it, our lifeboat will capsize… it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when which agencies and our social services commissioner echoed. Here are some of their comments:
“We’re running out of food, we’re running out of resources, to help the community,” Anita Dreichler, of Rockland Community Action Partnership told ABC 7.
“This is not about anti-immigration from our perspective. This is about helping families that need help,” Juan Mena of the Sloatsburg Food Pantry told News 12.
“What we’re asking for is help to help people. That’s all we’re asking for. We need smart people to get together and put the politics aside,” said our DSS Commissioner Joan Silvestri at the press conference.
Let’s not forget Congressman Lawler stated, “we want to fix this system so people who want to come to this country can do so and contribute to the American society, economy, and culture, as immigrants have and always will.”
This is happening in our backyard and screams out for solutions on the Federal level, and I hope our lawmakers in D.C., both Democrats and Republicans, finally come together and fix this system once and for all because ultimately as it stands it’s not helping people it’s hurting people.
