A New York City business owner charged illegal immigrants $300 a month to live in the basement of a furniture store, a cell phone store in the Bronx, and an abandoned library. new york post It was reported on Tuesday.
Ebou Saar, 47, told news outlets that the New York City Police Department arrested his hostile activities in January after discovering that he was housing undocumented immigrants from West Africa in cramped and dangerous conditions. He said that it had been discontinued.
Sarr explained that the former Fordham Library in the Bronx has been converted into a temporary shelter. According to a criminal complaint obtained by the newspaper, when police arrived at the scene, Sarr said, “I run the business.”
“I help these people because they have nowhere to go. No shelter will accept us. I have proof of residency from the mayor…I have a business across the street. “This is where I live,” he reportedly said.
As a result of the illegal operation, Sir was charged with two counts of trespassing on abandoned premises.
“It was a place where we didn’t think anyone would be around, so it was safe for us to put people there. We had been trying to get the city to give us that library. It’s been a long time since we’ve been trying to get the city to give us that library. It’s been there for a long time,” Searle told the Post. “You can put people in a place like that. You fix the place and put people in there.”
Mr. Sarr, who owned a furniture store in South Richmond Hill, charged undocumented immigrants $300 a month to live in improvised enemy territory.
Police reported that the basement of the abandoned library and furniture store was in “severely overcrowded and dangerous fire trap conditions.” A third store, a cell phone store in the Bronx, had a “dangerous and life-threatening condition,” law enforcement said.
There were no toilet facilities at the three locations, so residents had to take showers at nearby gyms.
Farou Saye, 29, told the Post that it was “a struggle” to come up with the money to live in the basement of a furniture store. The place was a shared space with 45 other people who were forced to share a bed.
“We didn’t have a bathroom. We had to go to Planet Fitness to take a shower,” Sey explained.
Searle reportedly provided the migrants with one meal a day and even paid for gym memberships to use the showers.
Sarr said the rent was a donation and he never asked for more than the undocumented immigrants could afford. He also claimed that although he did not have permission to use the abandoned library, he did not trespass either.
Sarr told the Post he plans to sue the NYPD over the trespassing charge.
“We lost a lot of money there because they took us out and didn’t give us a chance to get our property,” he said. “They lost their belongings. We chose that location because it was safe. It’s a big building.”
The news agency reported that the makeshift enemy soldiers, now vacant, were strewn with trash and the smell of urine.
Neighbors accused Mr. Sarr of “taking advantage” of illegal immigrants.
“At least if you want to take them and charge them money, let them live as human beings. I think he was toying with their minds,” one neighbor told the Post.
A nearby business owner told news outlets that Mr. Searle was a “bad guy” and a “swindler.”
“People can say whatever they want,” Searle replied. “They have their opinions. But the people I was with didn’t say that.”
Do you like Blaze News? Avoid censorship and sign up for our newsletter to get articles like this delivered straight to your inbox. Please register here!
