SANFORD, Maine — It's been four days since more than 100 asylum seekers arrived in Sanford. Community members told NEWS CENTER Maine they have been raising money to get families into hotels so they at least have somewhere to sleep.
Now, the city is holding an emergency council meeting to try to figure out the best way to handle this situation.
Sanford citizens have dropped off food and are trying to support the asylum seekers. The people NEWS CENTER Maine spoke to spoke to say they were told Portland was out of room, so they came here. But then they were told there was no room left in Sanford.
One of those people is Gaspar Simeone Mbiye who is seeking asylum from his home country of Angola.
Mbiye doesn't speak English, so we had to use google translate to do our interview.
I asked him if he was scared. Mbiye said he is the most scared to go back to Angola because it's not safe to live there.
That fear and dreams of a better life are what drove him for four months to get here.
He told NEWS CENTER Maine he traveled through Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico, a lot of it walking with serious pain in one foot.
There are many people in Sanford who are trying to help support refugees like Mbiye.
"The city has been silent," Marcia Farmer said.
Farmer spoke with NEWS CENTER Maine on Monday night and was still out assisting people on Tuesday morning.
Farmer said she has been taking time off work and doing everything she can to give these asylees a fresh start.
"I realized how much they have been through and how much help they need," she said.
Farmer added that they want what most people want, to live in peace. Mbiye echoed those thoughts.