NYC Students Sent Home as Migrants Shelter in School

Written by Anthony Constantini

What’s happening: Students at James Madison High School in New York City were forced into remote learning while their Brooklyn school was used to house 1,900 migrants whom city officials claimed had to be moved due to an incoming winter storm.

• Catch up: Since President Joe Biden took office, up to 10 million border encounters have been tallied, and millions of migrants were allowed into the United States. New York City is a popular destination for these migrants, though Mayor Eric Adams has stressed that the city can’t handle the strain on its resources.

Why it matters: This dilemma forces Adams to choose between letting migrants face harsh winter conditions on the streets or disrupting the lives of other residents by sheltering them. The situation is yet another example of the real-life effects of Biden’s lenient border policies — which the White House refuses to acknowledge.

• Dismissal: Sending students home “is something that New York City needs to answer to,”White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. “That is a process that they took. So they have to answer to that.”

Running out of room: The migrants who were moved to the high school had been living in a tent city set up by the Adams administration. Hundreds of NYC hotels have also been used to host migrants, and many of them have not been paid by the city for their services.

• An expensive crisis: New York City may ultimately spend up to $1 billion over the next three years on housing migrants in hotels.