Stefanik slams NYC move to shift migrants to high school, forcing students into remote learning: 'Outrageous'
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-NY., is taking aim at a move in New York City that saw nearly 2,000 migrants moved temporarily into a nearby high school due to storms, and the students forced into remote learning as a result -- calling it a direct result of "far-left" sanctuary policies.
Stefanik, who is also the chair of the House Republican Conference, was reacting to the movement of 1,900 migrants from a tent shelter at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said it was for safety reasons due to storms and potential high winds.
Multiple reports say Adams told reporters in Albany that it was being done out of an "overabundance of caution."
NYC HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FORCED INTO REMOTE LEARNING AS 2,000 MIGRANTS SHELTERED IN SCHOOL INSTEAD
"We want to make sure people are safe," he said.
But they were moved to James Madison High School, which confirmed it was being used as a "temporary overnight respite center" and would be closed as a result on Wednesday -- with students being forced to "pivot" to remote learning as a result. The move sparked outrage from politicians and parents, including Stefanik.
"It is outrageous that Eric Adams and Kathy Hochul are displacing New York students to accommodate nearly 2,000 illegal immigrants at a local New York public high school, a direct result of Joe Biden and the Democrats' failed Far Left sanctuary state policies which is destroying the great state of New York," Stefanik said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "This madness needs to end."
"New Yorkers’ tax dollars are being used to house illegal immigrants, punishing and sending home New York students of James Madison High School," she said. "It is unacceptable that Far Left New York Democrats are once again putting the needs of illegal immigrants over our children."
The New York Post reported how the move has infuriated parents of students at the school, with one woman screaming at buses as they arrived: "How does it feel that you kicked all the kids out of school tomorrow!"
Adam’s office told the Post that the move is a proactive measure to ensure the safety of individuals both living and working at the migrant facility and will "continue until any weather conditions that may arise have stabilized and the facility is once again for living."
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Meanwhile, NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, a Democrat, said that placing migrants at the Floyd Bennett Field "highlights the mismanagement and waste of money that is all-too-present in City Hall’s approach to shelter and services for asylum seekers."
It’s the latest impact of the migrant crisis that has overwhelmed the "sanctuary" city, where there have been over 160,000 migrant arrivals since the middle of 2022. That’s part of a broader crisis that has engulfed the border that saw over 2.4 million encounters in FY 23 and more than 302,000 in December alone.
Adams has blamed both the state of Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott has been busing migrants to "sanctuary" cities since 2022, and the federal government for alleged inaction.
Adams, along with other Democratic city mayors in cities like Chicago and Denver, has also called on the Biden administration to do more by providing more funding, quicker work permit processing and help with resettlement. Meanwhile, his city slashed budgets last year for education, policing and other sectors.
Adams recently launched a lawsuit against bus companies from Texas that have been involved in transporting migrants, and has also slapped restrictions on where and when buses carrying them can arrive.