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Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has blasted President Biden and New York City for the decision to kick students out of their Brooklyn school yesterday in place of nearly 2,000 illegal immigrants, saying the move was indicative of putting American citizens last. 

DeSantis on Wednesday slammed the city’s decision to move the migrants from a tent shelter at Floyd Bennett Field and into James Madison High School while the students have to pivot to remote learning.

"That's Joe Biden's America in a nutshell … it's disgraceful," DeSantis said in a video posted on his X account. In the video, DeSantis was responding to a question posed by a reporter about the situation at the New York City school. 

Migrants arrive in the rain at the front door of a Brooklyn school

Illegal migrants evacuated from Floyd Bennett Field arrive at James Madison High School in Brooklyn, New York City, on Jan. 9, 2024. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has slammed President Biden and the city for moving nearly 2,000 illegal migrants into a Brooklyn school while forcing students to pivot to remote learning. (Gardiner Anderson for NY Daily News via Getty Images)

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ office said it was moving around 1,900 migrants from the tent shelter for safety reasons due to incoming storms and potential high winds. Adams told reporters that it was being done out of an "overabundance of caution," according to the New York Daily News, while he wrote on X that the illegal immigrants would be moved out of the school on Wednesday. 

However, DeSantis, who appeared at a Fox News Town Hall on Tuesday ahead of the Iowa caucuses, panned the move.

"I think it’s disgraceful, just think about it … you’re a parent in Brooklyn … you probably got a lot of single moms who are the breadwinners, so they got to work during the day, your kids are supposed to go to school, and then someone tells you, ‘Sorry, your kids have to stay home.’"

Ron DeSantis

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed NYC's decision to move the migrants from a tent shelter at Floyd Bennett Field and into James Madison High School while the students have to pivot to remote learning. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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"Why? Was there some type of real significant storm or some emergency … why are they having to stay home?" DeSantis asked. "They’re having to stay home because the city government is commandeering the school to house illegal aliens."

"You talk about outing Americans last, you’re depriving these kids of in-person education to be able to house people that don’t have a right to be here to begin with."

Eric Adams tours a school with staff

NYC Mayor Eric Adams tours James Madison High School where nearly 2,000 illegal migrants were placed while students were sent home. (Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office)

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DeSantis went on to say that the views of New Yorkers on immigration are changing.

"When I’m president, this immigration stuff, we’re building a big consensus in this country because some of these areas in New York City, these are very liberal voters usually, but almost all of them are saying, ‘This can't go on like this,’ you can’t just have schools overtaken, hospitals overrun, people coming in we don’t even know who they are," DeSantis said.

"So, this is probably Biden’s biggest failure simply because he has more control over this. He is causing this, he could stop it, and he is choosing not to stop it."