Some high school students in New York will be learning remotely while their school is occupied by thousands of migrants in need of temporary shelter as a storm rolls through. Around 2,000 migrants are in need of shelter as high winds and dangerous flood conditions threaten the city.
Migrants were staying at a shelter site at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn which was made up of seven large climate-controlled tents. However, the city said the site wasn’t a safe place to be as high winds could damage or topple the tents.
Migrants were loaded up on dozens of buses and sent to James Madison High School where they will be temporarily stay in gymnasiums, the cafeteria, and the auditorium to ride out to storm.
The temporary solution by the city has received some criticism.
“Every time that there is a flood, are they going to find a new school to move migrants to?” Inna Vernikov, a New York City councilwoman, posted on X. “Our schools are not migrant shelters. They are a place of learning for our students paid for by our taxpayer dollars. This is not good for anyone, the migrants, their children and not students and families.”
New York Assemblyman Michael Novakhov is leading an emergency rally outside the school alongside concerned parents and community members.
“City officials are now setting a dangerous precedence for the future of this crisis – opening public institutions that are supposed to be among the safest places for our youth to an illegal and largely unknown migrant population,” New York Assemblyman Mike Reilly said on X.
Many of the migrants in New York City have been processed by the government and released while they wait for their asylum hearings. More than 157,000 asylum-seekers are in New York City with more arriving every day.
