Parents of New York public school students shocked as gyms turn into migrant camps

Parents in New York City are protesting the arrival of scores of migrants as public school gymnasiums are set up to house the incoming busloads.

The crisis comes as the number of illegal border crossing soars due to the expiration of the Trump era Title 42, which tightened the southern border. 

In the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, parents protested in front of P.S. 17 on Tuesday morning.

“I don’t mind giving a helping hand,” Linda Perez, a former Special Education teacher, told local Fox 5 New York.  “But when it interferes with the education of our students, yes I do care. Every 72 hours a new bus is going to arrive here and this is going to be surrounded by migrants.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that the city was eyeing 20 different public schools as possible bases for migrant camps, according to the New York Post.

Protest erupted when photos of illegal immigrants occupying public school gyms began to show up. Photos shared by the New York Post showed migrants housed on cots inside a public school gym on Coney Island. 

Adams later claimed the migrants were there only temporarily and had been subsequently moved.

The New York Post reports that 4,200 migrants showed up in the Big Apple last week with another 15 bus loads expected to arrive this week. 

“The mayor really needs to look into the law, and what’s permissible and not use schools, a place of education,” Perez told Fox 5.

“It doesn’t have to be in the public schools,” Tonya Trossi, an M.S. 577 parent also told the local Fox station. “They can put them somewhere else.”

Even Democratic public officials in New York have called upon President Biden to help stem the tide or at the very least lend assistance. 

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called on Biden to provide federal land for migrant camps such as “spaces on military installations, including naval resources,” rather than using New York public school gyms, reports local ABC News 7 New York City.

At least six Brooklyn schools are being prepped to house the migrants. Five of the schools, PS 17, 18, 132 and 172, are elementary schools, and one other, PS 189, has grades K-8. The other school is MS 577, a middle school, said the New York Post.

The city’s alternate plans have also run into a buzz saw of opposition.

New York had previously declared itself a sanctuary city, open to illegal immigrants from the southern border. But that reputation took a hit when neighboring counties such as Orange County objected to New York City busing newly arrived illegal immigrants into neighboring counties.

Orange County filed lawsuits against New York City to put an end to the busing scheme. 

And now it looks like the city may face lawsuits from its own residents to put an end to using public school gymnasiums as migrant base camps.