Hundreds of parents protested plans to open a shelter for illegal immigrants near a school as the Democrat-run sanctuary city grapples with President Joe Biden's open border policies.
Nearly 1,000 New Yorkers turned out to demand city officials halt their proposal that would open a free shelter for illegal aliens to take advantage of at the former St. John Villa Academy on Staten Island.
On Wednesday night, protestors held signs that read, "Send them back" and "Close our border," citing public safety concerns in the family-friendly area.
A large banner over the protest site read "NO F---ING WAY!"
New York City already has 206 shelters; however, that has proven to be inadequate to house the tens of thousands of migrants who illegally crossed the border and made their way to the Big Apple. Biden's damaging border policies have allowed illegal aliens to enter the U.S. consequence-free and reap many of the same benefits as legal citizens.
"Fifty (expletive) feet away is a school from Pre-K to 12 years old. Right here! That's (expletive), and that's not happening here," a protestor told PIX 11 News.
The city purchased the school in 2018 and, despite promising it had plans to re-open it as a school again, over 300 illegal immigrants are expected to move into the building within the next couple of days.
In response to the protests, Democratic Mayor Eric Adam's office released a statement, saying that despite the concerns, the site will still be used as a shelter for illegals.
"As we have emphasized repeatedly, with more than 100,000 asylum seekers that have come through our intake system since spring 2022 and hundreds more continuing to arrive in our city asking for shelter daily, New York City has been left largely alone to deal with a national crisis that demands difficult and swift decision-making. We have opened 206 sites, including 15 large-scale humanitarian relief centers, and are constantly searching for new places to give asylum seekers a place to rest their heads. Most recently, we located the vacant St. John Villa Academy as one of our respite sites for single women and adult families. We understand community concerns and want to assure them that we are working to ensure the site is well-managed. While New York City is leading the nation in welcoming asylum seekers, make no mistake, we cannot continue to do this alone. This crisis demands a broader national solution."
Adams has repeatedly complained that his "sanctuary city" has faced the burden of Biden's open border, calling on the federal government to send the city more money to combat the issue, a "solution" that would only create more of an incentive for migrants to continue unlawfully entering the United States with the hope of taking advantage of Democrat-given but taxpayer-funded benefits.