Migrants play dirty with New Yorkers

Ever since the tent shelter facility opened, shoplifting has spiked, street prostitution is on the rise and an extortion scheme has grown popular with migrants.

WORLD JANUARY 16. 2024 14:31

Residents in Brooklyn, New York, are fuming over spiking crime after migrants were moved to the makeshift shelter set up at Floyd Bennett Field. Nearly 2000 migrants were relocated to the isolated, temporary shelter in mid-November, placing many families in huge tents, as the city ran out of housing options.

Since the migrants moved in, shoplifting, panhandling, scams and street prostitution have jumped, local residents told the New York Post.

Currently more than 68 thousand migrants are in the city’s care, and with hotels and other facilities having reached their capacity, options are rather limited. More than 116,000 migrants have flooded the „sanctuary city” since April 2022, when southern governors began bussing migrants to northern cities to help deal with the crisis on the US-Mexico border.

Residents have also told the New York Post about a type of scam used by migrants to extort money from locals.

They run into traffic on a busy road and pretend to get hit. Then they threaten to report the drivers unless they give 500 dollars in hush money.

Sal Calise, president of the Bergen Beach Civic Association, said he nearly was a victim of the scheme while driving in early January. A man walked into oncoming traffic causing him to swerve his car and he nearly hit a parked car.

“I looked back in my rear-view mirror, and he’s turning around laughing at the migrants sitting on the corner,” he said. „The [migrant] guys on the corner, they had all their phones in their hands like they’re ready to film,” he added. “I thought, ‘This obviously is a setup.'”

Police are aware of the scam, but have no formal complaints to act upon, law enforcement sources said.

Five arrests at the center since its opening

25-year-old Josue Parica Villanueba, formerly from Venezuela, was arrested on 20 December for allegedly choking and beating his girlfriend. He pleaded not guilty.

Two women were arrested for assaulting men and a man for beating his father. They all pleaded not guilty.

A 36-year-old Ecuadorian staying at the tent center with her three children told the New York Post that

„it’s a small space with a lot of people in it, so people argue like this, and they fight about things like food and clothes,” adding that „they also get mad about other people being too loud, not watching their kids”.

At nearby Kings Plaza, one security guard estimated that up to 10 migrants a day steal food. He admitted routinely looking the other way because he feels sympathy.

„It’s always a family, a single mother with her kid who has a toy. I let them take the food,” he said.

Other shops have reported that if the thieves get caught, they give the items back, as they don’t want to go to jail. When someone shoplifts for food, stores often don’t notify the authorities. One store manager said migrants often steal everyday items like socks and underwear.

2000 people evacuated

Due to extreme weather, the tent facility had to be evacuated last week, and the migrants were relocated to a school gym.

The students were sent home, and the school announced that classes would be held remotely the next day, which angered local parents.

„To be clear, this relocation is a proactive measure being taken out of an abundance of caution to ensure the safety and well-being of individuals working and living at the center,” said Kayla Mamelak, spokeswoman for Mayor Eric Adams.

Kicking students out of classroom to make room for illegal migrants is not a solution, local residents protested.

Commenting on the situation, buillionaire businessman Elon Musk wrote on X:

WORLD

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migrants, new york, school