NYC residents protest tent city shelter: ‘Illegals are being prioritized over New Yorkers’
New York City residents gathered on Sunday to protest a tent city shelter used to house illegal immigrants, the New York Post reported.
More than 100 locals and elected officials demanded that the city revoke its lease with Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, which has been providing shelter accommodations to approximately 2,000 illegal aliens since last year.
‘Today we’re saying ‘no more.”
Protesters arrived at the rally in a 90-vehicle caravan, carrying American flags and signs reading, “Preserve the American dream,” “Stop migrant crime,” and “Revoke the lease to Floyd Bennett.”
Residents have raised complaints with the city since the shelter opened.
Republican lawmakers sent a letter to National Park Services in March requesting information regarding the vetting process for the shelter’s tenants after residents reported an increase in panhandling and criminal activity.
The letter stated, “Since the establishment of the migrant encampment at Floyd Bennett Field, local and national media have reported an uptick in crime at the migrant encampment and in the immediate neighborhood surrounding the park.”
“The widespread reports of criminality in and around the Floyd Bennett Field migrant encampment include domestic violence, assault, shoplifting, prostitution, and panhandling scams,” it continued.
The first busload of illegal aliens who arrived at the shelter in November refused to stay, instead demanding the city provide them with better accommodations. Many complained that the location of the shelter was too far from work or their children’s schools.
Brenda Lee, a New York City resident who attended Sunday’s protest, told the Post, “Illegals are being prioritized over New Yorkers and many, many New Yorkers feel that this crisis is just not debatable and there’s no end in sight.”
“We need to speak up about exactly … where this is gonna go,” Lee continued. “How is it going to end?”
“Is it gonna end?” she questioned.
City Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Brooklyn) told protesters during the rally, “There are other places now that the migrants from that base camp can go.”
“We need to be able to go to our national park and enjoy it. That was taken from us,” Ariola stated. “It’s been taken from us this summer and it must not be renewed.”
Assemblywoman Jaime Williams (R-Brooklyn), who also attended the protest, declared, “Today we’re saying ‘no more.’”
“It’s time that we take our community back, our city back, our state back. But let this be known that we are sending a very clear message to those individuals that are acting like thugs that we need our borders closed,” Williams added.
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