Right-wing groups target asylum-seekers on Staten Island

“America First” anti-immigrant extremists on Staten Island have been targeting families seeking asylum using tactics that include street protests, legal action, and harassment that verges on torture. With the help of a Newsmax pundit and vigilante group Guardian Angels, hundreds of protestors have been showing up to make sure that families and women housed at two locations are the subjects of threats, violence, and a thicket of ugly conspiracy theories.

Between 100 and 300 asylum-seekers were sent to the former site of St. John Villa Academy, a private Roman Catholic school that closed in 2018. Around 15 families are currently being housed in the Island Shores Senior Center, which is owned by an organization that seeks housing for the homeless. Staten Island’s shelters hold only about 2% of the asylum-seekers sheltered by the five boroughs of New York City.

But if Republican-friendly Staten Island isn’t pulling its weight in housing asylum-seekers, the borough is doing everything it can to make these would-be Americans feel unwelcome. That includes blaring music, speeches, and loudspeakers at all hours, and flashing strobe lights into windows to make it impossible to sleep.