Migrant children expected to enroll in Staten Island schools
Travis Civic Association President Gene Guerra and Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella on the impact of migrant assimilation in New York communities.
Local New York City officials said Tuesday on "Fox & Friends First" they're concerned about Staten Island schools seeing an "unsustainable" influx of migrant children by next week.
Travis Civic Association President Gene Guerra said the school in his neighborhood is already "overflowing" and he's unsure if the principal would be able to accept more students.
"There's really no place to put these children," said Guerra, telling host Carley Shimkus one school is already using a cafeteria as a classroom.
The move comes as Texas continues to send migrants from the southern border to sanctuary cities such as New York City.
Migrants leave for a shelter from the Port Authority bus terminal in New York, the United States, on Sept. 27, 2022. New York City will set up and open transitory humanitarian emergency response and relief centers in the coming weeks to handle the influx of migrants transported from Texas and other border states, announced New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently. ((Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua via Getty Images))
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella said Staten Island is a "very generous community," but he explained why bringing these children into the schools would be "unsustainable."
"If all these children are going to school, that's $200 million a year. Over five years, that's a billion a year. Our point is very simple. We did not create this situation. The people of Staten Island didn't create the situation. This is a federal issue. It warrants a federal solution," said Fossella.
Guerra said he understands that the migrants "have to go somewhere" and as a result of NYC's sanctuary city status, the migrants end up throughout the city.
"It's simply not fair to these children. … Our doors have been open and the residents have been donating food and clothing, but we really can't afford or sustain these types of numbers in these hotels," he said.
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Friday said that the migrant "crisis" that the Big Apple is facing will cost the city at least $1 billion by the end of the fiscal year — as he declared a state of emergency and again appealed for federal aid and for other states to help.
"My fellow New Yorkers, we are in a crisis situation," the Democratic mayor said on Friday.
He said that of the 61,000 people in the NYC shelter system, one in five are migrants as thousands have arrived either on their own or with the help of buses from Texas — being run by the Democratic mayor of El Paso and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
Nine buses were expected to arrive in New York on Saturday filled with migrants from Texas, several others arrived in the city Friday.
Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report
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