Sheltering of Illegal Immigrants at Brooklyn High School Raises Concerns Among Parents and Politicians

Nearly 2,000 illegal immigrants are evacuated by school buses from tents at Floyd Bennett Field to a local high school in preparation for a storm with estimated wind speeds of more than 70 mph. in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, on Jan. 9, 2024. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

When Jane Lyokovich was informed her 15-year-old daughter would stay home from James Madison High School on Wednesday to make room for illegal immigrants, she skipped a day of work to supervise.

The remote learning curriculum, however, was short.

“They did one assignment,” Ms. Lyokovich told The Epoch Times. “My daughter was told to submit it and that would count as attendance. Then, nothing the rest of the day.”

Jane Lyokovich and her daughter Julia Courtesy of Jane Lyokovich

Ms. Lyokovich is among the parents of some 3,400 James Madison High School students who are angry at city officials for relocating an estimated 1,900 illegal immigrants to the Midwood public school from Floyd Bennett Field as a way of sheltering them from Tuesday’s rainstorm.

They were reportedly transferred to the public high school out of fear the wind and rain would topple the Floyd Bennett Field tents and endanger immigrant families.

But for Ms. Lyokovich, who lives in Mill Basin, the decision to displace students for one day was disruptive.

“It’s in the middle of the school year and my daughter has exams coming up,” she said. “She had tutoring planned, and Regents Week is right around the corner. So, it held her back.”

When Tatyana Lerner from Sheepshead Bay learned that illegal immigrants would be sheltered at the high school her son Justin attends, she expressed concerns about diseases like COVID-19.

“I am disappointed, and my son feels the same way,” Ms. Lerner told The Epoch Times. “He’s on the swim team but he did not go to competition because he didn’t think it would be safe to use the pool and then see his grandparents who are old and lived through COVID.” 

Ms. Lerner, who works in the real estate industry, was so angry that she attended a protest in front of the school on Wednesday, January 10, along with other parents and politicians such as New York Assemblyman Michael Novakhov (R-District 45) and New York City councilwoman Inna Vernikov (R-District 48).

Tatyana Lerner Photo Courtesy of Tatyana Lerner

“I don’t think our kids matter,” Ms. Lerner added. “People do not matter. Our society is doomed. We are just a number. There are no individual voices. It feels like the majority rules, and it doesn’t have to be an educated majority. It’s just whoever yells louder.”

Although students had returned to their classes by Thursday, the morning of January 11, Assemblyman Novakhov said the issue was far from over. 

He plans to attach himself as a sponsor to Republican Assemblyman Mike Reilly’s Assembly Bill (AB) 8013, which would prevent any school, daycare, or community-based organization from being used for housing illegal immigrants.

“Sheltering migrants at the school was kind of inhumane,” Mr. Novakhov told The Epoch Times. “What I am happy about is that the city said they’re not planning to use James Madison High School anymore as a shelter for migrants.”  

New York City Mayor Eric Adams defended the decision to temporarily house the migrants at the school.

He told ABC News that not one child or family will sleep on the streets because of what his team has done.

“We’re not going to say in the city that when we have an emergency that impacts migrants, we’re not going to use our school buildings,” Mayor Adams said on January 11. “Because no matter what people say, if you look closely, these are still children, and adults should not ever put anything that’s going to endanger children.”

At least 165,000 illegal immigrants have registered for a city service, such as housing, over the past year and a half, according to Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank.

Critics blame U.S. President Joe Biden’s immigration policies. In July 2023, for example, the federal government began allowing Colombian, El Salvadoran, Guatemalan, and Honduran migrants to obtain U.S. work permits if they have relatives who are U.S. citizens or are green card holders.

“This starts and ends with the current border policy of Joe Biden,” Councilwoman Vernikov’s director of operations Izzy Weiss told The Epoch Times. “The people on a local level are suffering due to his administration’s policies. That’s why we are where we are.”

The high school is located within Ms. Vernikov’s district.

Ms. Weiss said her office has been inundated with calls and emails from constituents who are expressing concerns about the medical histories of the illegal immigrants and questioning whether remote learning will be reintroduced as it was during the COVID lockdowns.

“The city pulled together this massive group of people for a couple of hours for the migrants but when the hardworking tax-paying citizens of this city need something done, the red tape you have to go through is mind-boggling,” he added.

Although State Assemblywoman Jaime Williams is a Democrat representing District 59, she has aligned with Republican politicians in filing a lawsuit against Mayor Adams’ administration and the State of New York. The lawsuit demands the closure of Floyd Bennett Field as a housing option for illegal immigrants.

A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 18.

“It was painful to see the children and the babies having to go through the rain into the school and the school did not have cots, so they were sleeping on the floor on blankets,” Assemblywoman Williams told The Epoch Times. “Then, they woke them up and took them back to Floyd Bennett Field around 4:30 in the morning. Where is the justice in that?”

Ms. Williams, whose child is a senior at James Madison High School, was concerned when her daughter was sent home for remote learning this week, but she didn’t miss a full day’s work.

Assemblywoman Jaime Williams at a community event courtesy of Jaime Willliams' Assembly website

“I did check in with her from time to time because I didn’t want her to leave home to go to the mall,” Williams added.

Tom Sullivan is the Republican and Conservative party candidate for State Assembly District 23. He ran against Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer-Amato (D-District 23) in 2022 and lost. But, if Mr. Sullivan is elected in November 2024, the 30-year military veteran said he plans to propose a bill stating that New York is not a sanctuary state.

“The sentiment needs to change immediately that we are not a sanctuary state,” Mr. Sullivan told The Epoch Times. “The State Assembly could and should tell the federal government we are not accepting illegal immigrants.”