Charleroi Councilman Tells House Panel Migrant Placements Strained Small Town Services
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Summary
Larry Solasci, councilman of Charleroi, Pennsylvania, told a House subcommittee that rapid placements of migrants since 2022 overwhelmed municipal services, adding ambulance debt and overcrowded housing, and asked Congress to require consultation and funding for localities.
Larry Solasci, a councilman in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, told the House Judiciary subcommittee that his borough absorbed an "estimated 2,000 to 3,000 migrants in a very short period of time," a change he said represented a 50% to 75% population increase that local officials were not consulted about.
"No community can observe that level of growth overnight without serious consequences," Solasci said, describing stretched police, volunteer fire and ambulance services, overcrowded housing with double- and triple-occupancy, and more language-barrier emergency calls. He told the committee the borough's ambulance service carries "more than $250,000 in uncollectible debt tied to the migrant emergency calls." Solasci said federal agencies and nongovernmental organizations placed people into local housing and schools without proportional investments in policing, health care capacity or translation services.
Solasci asked Congress to require mandatory consultation with local governments before migrant or refugee placements and to limit placements "to levels communities can realistically support based on housing, public safety, school, and health care capacity." He also requested direct, flexible funding to municipalities absorbing migrant populations so local taxpayers are not left bearing the costs.
Members pressed Solasci on who coordinated placements; he said NGOs played a primary role and that the influx began roughly in 2022. Democrats on the committee questioned whether Solasci's account represented the whole community and sought to enter statements into the record from local leaders who said his views were not representative; committee members objected and debated admission of those statements.
The hearing produced no immediate federal action to change placement practices. Solasci's testimony was entered into the hearing record and members may submit additional materials during the five legislative days granted after the session.
