An entire New York high school will temporarily go virtual to make room for roughly 2,000 migrants, it announced Tuesday.

More than 160,000 migrants came to New York City over the past year, and Democratic Mayor Eric Adams has repeatedly asked the federal government for assistance in dealing with them. Migrants are being relocated from Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field to James Madison High School Jan. 10 due to potential flooding and windy conditions, according to the school.

“I am writing with an update regarding the activation of James Madison High School as a temporary overnight respite center due to the forecast of potential high winds and flooding conditions beginning this evening through tomorrow morning. To ensure a smooth transition for families temporarily sheltering overnight in the building, our school building will be closed on Wednesday, January 10 and school will be in session remotely for all students,” Jodie Cohen, principal of James Madison High School, wrote in a press release.

 

Adams and several other mayors of sanctuary cities, including Denver and Chicago, requested additional funding from the White House and Congress, as well as coordination with state and local governments, to deal with migrants. Denver has received more than 34,000 migrants, and Democratic Mayor Mike Johnston said “cities will have to look at dramatically reducing the amount of services we offer” due to the migrants.

Adams announced a 5% budget cut for all city services in September, but migrants are still straining the city resources, he said at a September event.

“Never in my life have I had a problem that I didn’t see an ending to. I don’t see an ending to this. … This issue will destroy New York City,” Adams said at the event. “Every community in this city is going to be impacted. … We have a $12 billion deficit that we’re going to have to cut – every service in this city is going to be impacted.”

James Madison High School and Adams did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Brandon Poulter on January 9, 2024