CHAMPLAIN — As the number of migrants entering Clinton County from Canada continues to increase, so do the number of calls to the county’s 911 Emergency Services Department, potentially clogging up the system.
“In Clinton County, at our 911 center, (we) have had a big increase in the number of 911 calls related to individuals crossing into our country,” Eric Day, the county’s Emergency Services director, said.
Day admits that in the past four years, the county’s Emergency Services has received a ”low volume” of calls pertaining to people coming over the border that required emergency support because they were lost in the woods, trapped in the snow or stranded in a swamp.
‘THE SYSTEM IS STRESSED’
But that has changed.
“In the last three months, the call volume has increased significantly and the nature of the call is a little different,” Day said.
Throughout the summer, several migrants have called 911 once they enter the county because they want to contact the U.S. Border Patrol to expedite their processing and documentation.
Day said it has been a challenge to help these individuals because many of them do not speak English and they call 911 repeatedly for Border Patrol. Border Patrol’s staff has struggled to assist the increasing number of migrants.
“Our dispatchers are on the phone, every night and every day now with these folks,” Day said.
Day said that in recent weeks, his emergency services department has received 15 to 25 calls a night to 911 from migrants requesting to be picked up by Border Patrol.
The increase in calls have not caused any issues with local emergency calls being delayed yet, but Day said it certainly could become a problem.
“You can only answer so many calls at once,” Day said.
“Our dispatchers are very well trained and very good at triaging calls because they do it every day, and a lot of these calls from migrants are not emergencies and they can be put on hold when an emergency call comes in.”
Day said that many calls to 911 are from migrants who are lost in Champlain, Mooers or the Town of Clinton and to help them, takes a lot of resources.
“It puts a strain on all our systems and if it gets worse, the strain will get worse and there could be a breaking point,” he said.
“The system is stressed for sure.”
”NOTABLE INCREASE”
Clinton County Sheriff David Favro says he has seen a “notable increase” of migrants entering the county during the warmer months. Favro estimates that his department has apprehended approximately 600 migrants each week, and believes that this number only reflects a portion of how many are entering New York each week.
“There are many more (migrants) that get through (the border) that are not apprehended that we really don’t know an accurate number, so clearly it is 600-plus,” Favro said.
Favro explained that he, along with other local law enforcement officers, have been able to help migrants with funding from federal grant programs such as Operation Stonegarden.
While the program helps to support local law enforcement officers who have to stay overtime to assist with matters concerning the border as well as purchasing necessary equipment, Favro said that the migrant crisis is still a concern in the community.
Services regarding the Department of Motor Vehicles and legal matters involving Family Court and County Court within the state have also become strained as the rising number of migrants seek these government services, according to Favro.
“We’re finding quite a few of them, and we’ve assisted some with getting rides and making phone calls, quite a few of them are going to New Jersey, New York City area, and that seems to be a big focal point, many of them don’t know where they are going,” Favro said.
FEDERAL SOLUTION
Due to the consistent nature of the border situation, Favro, who has testified before Congress about the border issue, hopes that the federal government will find a solution.
“I think there needs to be a plan, right from the top, the federal government needs to say ‘okay, we’ve opened our borders, we’re allowing x number of people in, then we’re going to make sure they have jobs and they have places to stay.’ . . there needs to be some type of structure,” Favro said.
Clinton County Legislature Chairman Mark Henry (R-Area 3, Chazy) a former Border Patrol officer, believes that the federal government needs to adjust its policies regarding the border because what is in place is not working, and county resources are being strained.
Henry said that illegal migrants that are breaking the law when crossing the border should have “consequences,” for their actions.
“Clinton County and the Legislature has been involved in the border crisis since the day it started, so over the last couple, three years, we have done many things to try and mitigate the border crisis,’ he said.
“This is a federal problem, that was created by the federal government and needs to be solved by the federal government.”
— Editor in Chief Joe LoTemplio contributed to this report