'No bus loads': Migrants are not being housed in Honesdale-area hotels, officials say

It spread like wildfire on social media in Wayne County: An anonymous Facebook poster said that a couple of hotels in the Honesdale area were housing migrants, paid for by the state, no questions asked. Honesdale Borough Police and the Pennsylvania State Police, however, each denounced the rumor as untrue.

Trooper First Class Robert Urban, community service officer for Troop R in Dunmore, affirmed in an email, March 13, that there was one transient picked up in Wayne County around the last week of February.

"There was indeed one migrant of Asian descent who was apprehended approximately three weeks ago in the vicinity of Weniger Hill Road, north of Honesdale," Urban said. "The Pennsylvania State Police in Honesdale handled the situation appropriately. However, it's important to note that other claims circulating on social media platforms such as Facebook are unsubstantiated. We have not received any reports of individuals residing in tents, breaking into homes, or behaving suspiciously in hotels within Wayne County."

Honesdale Police Lt. Donald Tacher stated that they investigated, and determined the rumor about migrants being housed in local hotels is untrue.

The unidentified person posted in the "Neighbors Helping Neighbors Wayne County, Pike County and Surrounding Area" Facebook group that "five illegals" were apprehended at a Honesdale-area farm and that others were camping at Skinner's Falls and breaking into homes near there. The poster went on to claim that two hotels in Honesdale are housing immigrants. "They were told to not talk about it because The state is paying twice the usual rate to let them stay there no questions asked," the poster said. The post also claimed that a local lawyer paid to have them brought up from Texas, but they wanted to go home because the United States is "not what they were told it would be."

The Wayne County commissioners on March 14 reported getting several questions about the rumor. Commissioner James Shook stated, "We've done our due diligence, it's not true, it hasn't been true. It's not happening. There has occasionally been maybe one person coming through, moving along... but there are no bus loads coming into Wayne County. They're not staying in any local hotels here.

"It just seems to be a media blitz just causing more fear going into the next presidential election," Shook said. "But we are doing our job, making sure the community is safe."

Chairperson Brian Smith said there was one man who came through and came onto a couple farms where they were not supposed to be. Some people called the state police, Smith said, and the person was picked up to ensure everything was all right. "And that person ended up in Scranton, going west. That person did not harm anyone, did not create any illegal situation that anyone was aware of, but state police were called because he was on property that did not belong to him, but was simply trying to find his way west."

Commissioner Jocelyn Cramer said they spoke to Honesdale and state police. "We get concerned about misinformation creating a negative impact on the community," she said.

Trooper Urban added, "We strongly encourage residents to promptly contact 911 if they observe any trespassing on their property, enabling appropriate action to be taken."

Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent or its predecessor publications since 1994. Reach him at pbecker@tricountyindependent.com or 570-253-3055 ext. 1588.

This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Police, Wayne commissioners say rumor of migrants in hotels is false