Title 42's expiration has opened the floodgates for waves of illegal aliens surging the United States-Mexico border, with the outpour trickling to Democrat-led "sanctuary cities" already overrun by violent crime, homelessness, and open-air drug dealing.
New York City, unsurprisingly, is one of these progressive cesspools advertised as a safe haven that's, begrudgingly, welcoming all who crossed into America, illegally or otherwise. Until now, NYC was planning to house illegal aliens seeking asylum in as many as 20 public schools, Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday across a handful of media hits. He stressed, "This is one of the last places we want to look at" and "None of us are comfortable with having to take these drastic steps." The mayor's office added, "we are out of space" and "nothing is off the table as we work to fill our moral mandate."
At least seven schools in Brooklyn covering pre-kindergarten through eighth grade were selected for migrant housing: P.S. 188 in Coney Island; P.S. 172 in Sunset Park; P.S. 189, and P.S. 132 in Crown Heights; P.S. 17, M.S. 577, and P.S. 18, in Williamsburg.
But, according to a mayoral aide, the city reportedly backed off on the move but could revive the idea if deemed necessary.
Following consecutive parent-led protests, the Adams administration decided to pump the brakes Wednesday on the approach, a source within the city government told the New York Daily News. "They are moving away from the school sites for now, but reserve the right to use them again if they can’t handle the influx," the source said, indicating that the plan could be reactivated.
In the wake of the apparent about-face, the asylum-seekers sheltering at P.S. 188 have been suddenly shuffled from the Coney Island school to vacant office space formerly used by Touro College in Manhattan, which can hold up to 450 people.
This is the letter parents from P.S. 188 received at drop off this morning. It provides an update on the use of their gym to house asylum seekers. Says the space is not needed at this time but will remain ready with supplies to provide emergency short term respite if needed @NY1 pic.twitter.com/3CuXm2vjnw
— Alyssa Paolicelli (@APaolicelli17) May 18, 2023
It's not a policy reversal, asserted Anne Williams-Isom, deputy mayor for Health and Human Services. "We are very consistent with our strategy and planning and continue to do that so I can assure that nobody sleeps on the streets of NYC," she stated.
The school selections had come after Adams' chief of staff Camille Varlack issued a May 7 memo ordering all city agencies to identify properties that could be retrofitted into emergency housing as the border crisis, brought north, consumes the Big Apple.
If the plan had been carried out, which was well underway before the city's backtracking, the illegal aliens would have been held in standalone gymnasiums separated from the school buildings, Adams emphasized in a Tuesday morning interview, further maintaining at the time that "everyone is going to make sure there's no contact between the migrants and our school children."
"I'm never going to put our children in harm's way. We have coordination with school safety, the NYPD, our health and human services. In no way are these migrants, if we have to get to this level, will interact with our school-aged children," he insisted.
Adams says migrants housed in NYC school gyms is only possibility –as photos show cots set up https://t.co/Z11iVt6xxQ pic.twitter.com/JgowpjYqgv
— New York Post (@nypost) May 16, 2023
Regardless of the gyms being free-standing, parents concerned about security and their children's safety voiced that they don't want unvetted full-grown men, who aren't authorized to be there and hail from who knows where, on school grounds indefinitely. Other parents raising alarm argued that their presence would disrupt learning and halt student programming.
Over on M.S. 577 and P.S. 17's campus, whose shared gym site was being prepared to host a horde of, potentially, single adult males, outdoor after-school activities would've been axed, given that the gymnasium itself is backed onto the playground.
"These kids just came through COVID, and now they're being locked inside the classroom," PTA member Virginia Vu, a parent at M.S. 577, stated to the New York Post. "To bus people to our school and expect the community to absorb them is just insane."
About 75 adult aliens were transported Monday to P.S. 188's Sandra Feldman Gymnasium, which Brooklyn Councilmember Justin Brannan said would be used as a short-term overflow site, a pit stop en route to other facilities. The stay could've lasted up to several days, supporting a capacity of 84 adults, but more would've arrived after the current occupants had moved out.
Proud to represent the beautiful & compassionate Coney Island community that simply wants to have a say in the future of their own neighborhood. 2/2 pic.twitter.com/EOOSJmXlt4
— Council Member Ari Kagan (@CMAriKagan47) May 17, 2023
However, parents said they were in the dark about how long the school's gym would be occupied and were given little, late notice. Likewise, local officials fuming over the placement complained that the plan was formed without them being consulted first.
Taking to the streets, community members rallied Tuesday outside P.S. 172 after the District 15 Brooklyn superintendent notified parents Sunday night that the school's gym, which is situated right next to the schoolyard where children as young as four-years-old play at recess, would be transformed into a temporary, makeshift shelter for asylum-seekers. Sixty-seven cots were set up inside the gymnasium, according to Councilmember Alexa Avilés. For years, the gym has been undergoing renovations and only opened back in September, leaving many parents wondering where students would have physical education classes in the interim.
Some parents told Spectrum News NY 1 that, based on what they'd been made aware of by school administration, PE would be moved to the cafeteria, and extracurricular sports, such as soccer and basketball, would be canceled whilst the gym is inhabited.
"We're out here because we were literally given a slap in the face," Lucia Gutierrez, president of the Parent Teacher Association for P.S. 17 and M.S. 577's treasurer, said. "We were not informed. We were not even asked if we wanted this in our community. I get it, things are hard, and there’s no room, but this is not the place for these people," Gutierrez continued, declaring, "It's not fair."
There’s a lot of parents talking about how afraid they are, some have pulled their kids out of school. There are a few moms from the local Communtiy Education Council who disagree with the protest but they get heckled by the crowd. pic.twitter.com/l1tSXBJ875
— Gwynne Hogan (@GwynneFitz) May 16, 2023
One outraged parent told ABC7 News that the aliens should be bunking with the elected officials who called to place them near grade-school children. "Put them in their backyards because you've dumped on us long enough," the parent said.
Amid the outcry, caregivers, fearful of what their children could be subjected to, had refused to drop off their kids at school.
"I'm not sending my kids to school because at the end of the day there could be pedophiles coming in. There could be people trying to kidnap our kids. They could have weapons. They could have drugs. They could have anything," a parent said, per CBS2.
WATCH: Rosie — a concerned grandmother who has pulled her grandchild from school — explains how she, like others, are protesting New York City housing illegal aliens in the school gym:
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) May 17, 2023
“Our main concern is the safety of our children…We’re scared.” pic.twitter.com/gZgdjqu03A
So far, 65,000 asylum-seekers have swarmed New York City, including 4,200 in the past week alone, while city officials expect up to 15 more busloads this coming weekend. In recent months, buses packed full of illegal aliens have been sent to Adams' jurisdiction, courtesy of GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, whose state contends with an influx of illegal immigrants daily.
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