Parents protest after school is used to shelter migrants

Parents and local politicians expressed frustration after a New York high school switched students to remote learning so the building could serve as a temporary shelter for around 2,000 migrants due to a heavy rainstorm. 

City officials moved thousands of migrants sheltering at Floyd Bennett Field in South Brooklyn to James Madison High School on Tuesday, with the migrants staying in the gym and auditorium.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams visited the school Tuesday after the migrants arrived, tweeting the following day that “teams are doing a great job keeping asylum seekers safe and dry before they depart tomorrow morning.”

In response, the school moved classes online to make room before city officials bused the migrants back to the field at 4:15 a.m. on Wednesday. 

According to CBS News New York, parents and community leaders protested outside the high school and condemned the decision to switch to remote learning, with some parents calling it “inexcusable” after what kids went through during COVID-19.

Amid the backlash, the school received a bomb threat and a number of hateful phone calls, which authorities are investigating as possible criminal offenses.

“They have to come up with another solution. They cannot do this to school kids,” one resident said about the situation, as quoted by CBS2. 

James Madison High School did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment.

In a Wednesday statement published by The New York Post, one mother of a student at James Madison said it was “disgusting” and that it “should not be put on us taxpayers.”

 “I do believe they are putting the life of people who are here illegally and not documented over my life,” the mother’s daughter said, as quoted by The Post.

“I am a 15-year-old girl at the school who wants to get her education and better her life, and she can’t come to school today because the day was interrupted by people who aren’t supposed to be here.”

City officials said they would not use James Madison as a migrant shelter again, according to CBS2.

New York City Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol said that officials acted “out of an abundance of caution to ensure the safety and well-being of individuals working and living at the center.”

As The Post reported in September, New York City had admitted 95,000 migrants, which is twice as many as Houston, Texas, Miami-Dade County, Florida and Los Angeles, California, since the lifting of Title 42 in May. Title 42 allowed border officials to quickly turn away illegal immigrants due to the threat of COVID-19. 

Republican New York State Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny protested alongside parents on Wednesday, tweeting, “Our students will be our First Priority!” 

“Today I stood alongside my colleagues in the Assembly, and concerned parents for a Rally outside of James Madison High School,” he wrote.

“I have been very outspoken about placements of temporary migrant shelters in our communities and within our public schools. We are a compassionate and supportive city, but not one New Yorker believes this is a solution.”

Migrants have faced eviction from various shelters throughout the city, NewsNation reported, including the Row Hotel in Manhattan, with the city sending out 5,000 eviction notices informing migrants to seek alternative housing. 

New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov told NewsNation that the James Madison High School situation was “a perfect example of what not to do.”

The sheltering of migrants at Floyd Bennett Field has raised concerns, according to NewsNation, due to the area’s susceptibility to flooding and fear that shelter tents cannot withstand heavy winds and rain.

“Obviously, parents and residents are concerned about what’s going to happen next, if there’s another flood — we’re in the winter season, so anything could happen anytime,” Vernikov said.

“How many more times are they going to evacuate? And where are they going to go? Are they going to keep using schools for this? These are all questions, legitimate questions that parents and residents have.” 

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