For a second, I thought I was writing for the Onion.
Nope, this is real life.
New York City’s Mayor Adam admits that they are considering implementing a curfew for migrant shelters after complaints have come in about the migrants panhandling for money.
Who could have seen this coming…
ABC 7 New York shares more:
During a conference call with local lawmakers this week, Councilwoman Joann Ariola of Queens asked if the administration is considering a curfew at its asylum seeker locations like Floyd Bennett Field, Randall’s Island and the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center.
The question comes amid reports that shelter residents have been going out at night and panhandling or knocking on doors to ask for food, money and clothes.
A homeowner in Belle Harbor, Queens, said she has video have a woman and child ringing her doorbell and showing a translation on her phone identifying herself as a migrant in need of money.
ADVERTISEMENTPaul King, the president of the Property Owner’s Association, said the neighborhood is now seeing an influx in panhandling.
“Some of it is from people coming up on their porches, using their kids as props, aggressively panhandling, people essentially even coming in the house,” King said.
Ariola believes the isolation and less than favorable conditions at Floyd Bennett Field are now driving some asylum seekers into surrounding areas — with some of the panhandling happening late at night.
New York City already has a curfew for the homeless folks in the city.
Curfews on our migrant shelters seems like common sense. Our DHS facilities all have mandated curfews, so why don't the migrant shelters? If it is good enough for our homeless New Yorkers, it should be good enough for our migrants too.https://t.co/6fm4jqWwXw
— Joann Ariola NYC Council District 32 (@JoannAriola32) January 12, 2024
I hope New Yorkers are happy with their new neighbors.
LMAO 🤣 🤣 🤣 they're gonna give illegal alien criminals and thugs a curfew, y'all.
Yeah, sure. Many of these invaders just left 3rd world hell hole prisons and mental asylums
New York City is an absolute joke. pic.twitter.com/odGs3rJvAY
— 🇺🇲Salty Texan (@texan_maga) January 13, 2024
The New York Daily News shares more:
After the briefing, Ariola, whose Howard Beach-based district isn’t home to any HERRCs, said in a text message that migrants living at the sprawling emergency shelter at Floyd Bennett Field have started going to the Rockaways to ask local residents for money, food and clothes. The news outlet The City recently reported a similar trend is playing out in southern Brooklyn’s Marine Park, a reliably Republican neighborhood where some anti-migrant sentiment has taken root, resulting in hostilities.
Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak confirmed a HERRC curfew is under consideration, but would not provide any specifics about it, such as what the cutoff time for access would be or whether there’d be exemptions to it.
ADVERTISEMENT“When we have more to share, we will,” she said.
Residents of Department of Homeless Services shelters generally have 11 p.m. curfews.
“These [HERRC] sites should have the exact same curfews as the ones currently in place at our DHS shelters, unless a reasonable accommodation is granted,” Ariola said.
New York Immigration Coalition Executive Director Murad Awawdeh, whose group has helped welcome migrants to the city since 2022, said the Adams administration is focusing on the wrong issue in pushing for HERRC curfews in response to complaints about migrant begging.
“We should be looking into why they are not getting the help that they need at the centers, considering that the city has been saying they’ve been all along providing migrants with all the help they need,” Awawdeh said. “The knee-jerk reaction should not be more punitive measures or try to put people in a jam if they are a few minutes late. It puts more burdens on people as they’re trying to build up their lives.”
This is unsustainable for our country, let alone New York City.
These people need to be sent back to their own countries.
We are wasting too many resources on this issue when our economy falters.
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