Dozens of New York City residents led by a caravan of 30 vehicles gathered at a giant tent shelter at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn on Sunday to protest as the city's lease with the federal government nears its deadline.
Local residents, including elected officials and military veterans, have called on the city not to renew the lease and instead to close the 2,000-bed temporary shelter that houses some of the more than 214,000 undocumented immigrants who have moved to New York City over the past two years.
“They have complete immunity.”
The city's lease with the National Park Service expires on September 14. lease It does not imply any right of automatic renewal or extension.
Rep. Jaime Williams (R-Brooklyn) New York Post“These immigrants come, they go door to door, they steal packages, they solicit in front of supermarkets everywhere, and they pluck at people's heartstrings.”
“This is not what our community is about,” Williams continued. “Floyd Bennett Field is not a place to house immigrants. This is a flood zone. [with] “There's no infrastructure. So when you put them in that situation, there's nothing to do. There are no jobs, so they're out on the street.”
“As long as they come in a legitimate way, I don't mind,” said Antonia Natar, a longtime resident.
“This is the nature of our country. Our country was built on a lot of immigration, legal immigration, and I support that,” Natale added. “I feel like we need to do it citywide. No illegal immigration, no shelters.”
Natal expressed concern that an influx of illegal immigrants into New York City would be “damaging” the local economy and housing market.
Curtis Sliwa, founder of Guardian Angels, which has led numerous protests against the city's shelters, said Sunday that illegal immigrants are flooding into the area “every day,” The Post reported.
“They’re still checking in. [city intake center at] “The Roosevelt Hotel. They have total immunity. They arrest illegal immigrants and they let them go,” he said.
“With more than 210 emergency shelters currently operating, and hundreds of new evacuees continuing to arrive in New York City every week, we have been running out of good options for some time,” a City Hall spokesperson told the news outlet.
“The Floyd Bennett Field facility is one of the very limited resources available to shelter hundreds of migrant families each night, and we continue to seek additional support from our federal partners and encourage our elected partners to join us,” the spokesperson said.
More than 100 residents held a similar protest in June, demanding that the city cancel their leases, as previously reported by The Blaze News, with one local resident at the rally fuming that undocumented immigrants were being “put above New Yorkers.”
In August, the House Natural Resources Committee sent a subpoena to the Biden-Harris Administration's Department of Homeland Security, alleging that the federal government had not provided requested information about the Floyd Bennett Field shelter. Lawmakers asked for a report on how the shelter site was selected and the vetting process for tenants after “widespread reports of crime,” including domestic violence, assault, shoplifting, prostitution and panhandling fraud.
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