Video of Migrants Packed Into New York High School Goes Viral

Footage of migrants arriving at James Madison High School in Brooklyn has gone viral on social media, after they were evacuated from a tent shelter at Floyd Bennett Field due to concern about dangerous weather.

The 25-second clip was posted on X, formerly Twitter, by New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, a Republican.

There has been a surge in illegal immigration into the United States over the past couple of years, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents recording 276,000 migrant encounters in December 2023, according to preliminary date published by Fox News. The issue is expected to feature heavily in November's presidential election, with Donald Trump, the GOP frontrunner, sparking outrage in December when he said migrants were "poisoning the blood of our country."

Along with the video, which showed migrant families arriving at the school, Vernikov posted: "First group of migrants from Floyd Bennett field arrive at James Madison High School. Madison is a scan school where students get scanned upon entrance, but the migrants got to bypass that as per the NYPD. A lot of law enforcement and other agency resources have been poured into this situation tonight."

"Also, these children are being moved from place to place and will be forced to wake up at 4:30am to leave the school to go elsewhere. Unacceptable situation for all! #endthemadness."

The video received over 360,000 views on X and was reposted more than 980 times. Other X users expressed frustration at the situation, with one commenting: "I can't believe we are sending kids home from school to house migrants. Is that even safe or sanitary? There is data on how students respond to remote learning and I remember the majority do not do well."

"Plus, school is not JUST for learning. There are social and athletic aspects as well. And for low income American students, school is where they get their breakfast, lunch and after school snack."

A second wrote: "What are the parents who have jobs supposed to do with their kids while they work? Is there day care for high school students?"

James Madison High School announced on Tuesday that classes on Wednesday would be held remotely due to their buildings being used as "a temporary overnight respite center" for displaced migrants.

City officials made the decision to evacuate the Floyd Bennett Field migrant tent due to fears it could collapse with heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 70 mph forecast for late Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

Speaking to reporters, City Hall spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak said the migrants would remain at the school until it is safe for them to return to the Floyd Bennett Field facility.

She commented: "To be clear, this relocation is a proactive measure being taken out of an abundance of caution to ensure the safety and wellbeing of individuals working and living at the center.

"The families are already in the process of being temporarily relocated and will continue to be provided with essential services and support. The relocation will continue until any weather conditions that may arise have stabilized and the facility is once again fit for living."

On December 18, the Floyd Bennett Field tent was battered with heavy rain and 55 mph gusts, which left some migrants fearing for their lives, according to The New York Post. Immigrants were first moved onto the site, an abandoned Brooklyn airfield, in November following negotiations between New York State Governor Kathy Hochul and the White House.

Newsweek has contacted New York City Mayor Eric Adams for comment via an online form.

On December 27, the Democratic mayors of New York, Chicago and Denver issued a joint plea for additional federal resources to deal with the migrant influx, commenting: "All of our cities have reached a point where we are either close to capacity or nearly out of room."

Texas's Republican Governor Greg Abbott has been bussing migrants to Democratic run "sanctuary cities" since 2022. More than 2.4 million migrant encounters took place on the U.S.-Mexico border during the 2023 fiscal year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, up from around 1.7 million in 2021.