Thousands of students were forced to stay at home for remote learning while migrants preoccupied their school for a night.
The incident took place at the Brooklyn High School on Wednesday while more than 2000 migrants used the school’s gym as a shelter on Tuesday night. The school announced the remote learning online on Wednesday morning as activating the school for a temporary overnight shelter for the migrants.
Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, announced the relocation of the migrants on Tuesday for safety concerns over an upcoming winter storm.
The Displacement
The transfer of the migrants was done as a safety measure from rain and powerful wind that would have collapsed the migrant tent at Floyd Bennett Field. Although the migrants were cleared out of the James Madison High School at 4:30 AM on Wednesday, the school remained closed at the principal’s request.
Public Response
The public was outraged, some even called the decision madness and a chaotic seen that felt like a concert while others felt it was a misuse of taxpayer money.
The migrants faced backlash from the neighborhood along with that, Michael Novakhov, an Assemblyman from Brooklyn rallied outside the school in a protest for hindering student’s education on Wednesday.
Many parents called out on the migrants as they felt their children were robbed of education, screaming and blaming them for the cause. Some even questioned the Town Hall’s lack of an emergency plan for the flooding migrants as it has been a prolonged issue.
Some people protesting also called Biden the reason behind the migrant crisis and demanded action from the federal government to use official buildings as shelters and not trouble the schools.
Photos and videos surfaced on X showing the migrants sleeping on the floor of the gym. The Office of Emergency Management described the scene as completed as the migrants were safely taken back to Floyd Bennett Field.
However, it wasn’t the first time a weather report had troubled the shelter with its 2000-bed tents. The tent was hit hard during the December 18 storm after a heavy downpour and the strong wind had nearly uprooted the tents.
The downpour was recorded up to 4 inches and the migrants were overwhelmed by the storm as some explained to The Post at the time. However, this came as a surprise to the officials who did not report any flooding or the loosening of bolts and hinges as they had an evacuation plan at hand.
The parents as well as the residents of the city are concerned and frustrated about such incidents occurring in the future as the question of the migrants’ relocation counts as the major issue for them.
The Overwhelming Migration, a Trouble
More than 140,000 migrants have crossed borders and come to New York City fleeing hardships in their hometown in the last 18 months which has scarred the city’s finance crossing over $1 billion, more of which is expected to cross over $12 billion by the Fiscal year 2025.
The incident has raised concerns over the inability to control the migrants which has now started to affect the education of children as it might occur again in the future. The incident demands that the federal government introduce a comprehensive immigration plan and reform to address the crisis at hand.
Also, it paints the bigger picture of the immigration that has taken place in the past few years globally.
