New York City opened a shelter for illegal immigrants in Brooklyn that was exclusively male. The shelter is located about 800 feet from a Christian private school. This sparked concerns among residents regarding the safety of children.
The Independent Women’s Forum interviewed Jeffrey Reed, principal of City Life Academy, and Irina Adelstein, mother of three students who attend this school.
Reed and Edelstein stated that they were not adequately notified by the city that the 400-bed shelter for illegal immigrants would be located just a few steps from the K-12 School. Both Reed and Edelstein expressed concern about the safety of the students attending the classical Christian schools, as well as the secretive manner in which city officials moved forward with the plan.
Edelstein, an immigrant who is legally in the country from the former Soviet Union told IW Features she found out about the shelter’s upcoming opening when a local handed her a flyer with information while she picked up her kids from City Life Academy. Reed said that the plans for the shelter were not revealed to him until the project had been in development for nearly a full year.
Edelstein stated that the city opened the shelter without notifying the school in any way.
She explained, “When we returned from our spring break the shelter was fully operational.”
Edelstein said, “Many of the people here legally will build a good life for themselves and will contribute positively to this country.” “However there is a distinction between invasion and immigration.”
Reed claimed that the city didn’t ask for community input, because they “knew” there would be opposition.
He added, “They knew that if they’d gone through the right channels or the proper ones [it] would have never opened.” “Anytime someone chooses that in complete darkness, it is rarely the right decision.”
Reed, IW Features reported that the school has taken several measures to ensure student safety. These include video surveillance as well as a “system dads” (or “Dad Days”) or a “system for dads”.
“I asked [parents]: ‘Can you come out here and keep an eye on the street while school is going on?’ Reed, who was referring to Dad Days, said that if they do spot someone, the dad’s presence will cause the others to cross the street to avoid them.
Andrea Mew, IWF’s features manager, told Daily Caller News Foundation that Brooklyn is thousands of miles from the southern border, and yet mothers like Irina were blindsided by a border crisis right in their backyards.
Mew continued, “After Irina explained to us the negative impact of the opening of migrant housing within a mile of her children’s school and the complete lack of transparency by city leaders, it became obvious that we had to document these adverse effects on her community.”
DCNF’s request for comment was not answered by the New York City Mayor’s Office of Migrant Affairs.
