Ukrainian refugees pass the border crossing in Medyka, southeastern Poland, on Wednesday, March 23, 2022. The United Nations says more than 3.5 million people — mainly women and children — have fled Ukraine in the four weeks since Russian tanks rolled across the border and Moscow began bombarding towns and cities.

As faith leaders in the Jamestown area discuss the possibility of resettling refugees in the city, a state legislator wants to make it illegal to deny refugee resettlement anywhere in New York state.

Assemblyman Nader Sayegh, D-Yonkers, introduced A.9520 recently to amend the state Executive Law making it an unlawful discriminatory practice to deny refugee resettlement in certain instances. In particular, Sayegh wants to make it a violation of state law to deny refugees based on age, race, creed, color, national origin, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, familial status, genetic characteristics, disability, marital status or status as a victim of domestic violence.

“Research from the Fiscal Policy Institute, Urban Institute, Pew Research Center, and New American Economy have found a positive economic and social impact of refugees across New York State, from Buffalo to Manhattan,” Sayegh wrote in his legislative justification. “These individuals bring diversity in culture and business that continues to help the state flourish. As such, we should continue to welcome refugees into our state with open arms and never discriminate against those looking for resettlement.”

Sayegh wrote that, at the end of 2020, nearly 30 million people were forcibly displaced and became refugees around the world. The Russian invasion of the Ukraine has forced 2.8 million people out of their homes as of March 14. The vast majority seeking refuge in Poland, which has taken in more than 1.7 million refugees in the last 19 days.

The Biden administration has announced that tens of thousands of Ukrainians would be granted Temporary Protected Status, or TPS.

Locally, city officials moderated discussions in December about the possible resettlement of refugees in the Jamestown area. A coalition of faith leaders and community members have taken over those discussions now to work with Journey’s End, a refugee resettlement organization. Currently, the refugees in question are located on military bases inside or outside of the country. The refugees have been thoroughly vetted and given a special status by the United States government. Refugees by definition are people who have been forced to leave their home country due to war, persecution or natural disaster.

“It’s really important that this is a community effort because I really think it’s the community that will keep them safe — not the government and not the police — we have to do this work,” the Rev. Luke Fodor of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church told The Post-Journal in February. “It basically goes back to the fact that diversity makes us stronger, not weaker. I think refugees are here to build, not take. There may be some sort of initial phase when they get started they need a little bit of resources to get themselves launched. But by and large, they’re here to build.”