Protestors Declare ‘Total Victory’ as Staten Island Illegal Immigrant Shelter Shut Down

Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella at a Aug. 29 protest ouside a Catholic school that was converted into a shelter for illegal immigrants. (Courtesy of the Office of the Staten Island Borough President)

An illegal immigrant shelter set up at a shuttered Catholic school in the middle of a small, quiet Staten Island neighborhood that became the center of controversy after residents reported litter, foul odors, and increases in crime, has been shut down.

“This is a total and complete victory,” Mark Fonte, a lawyer who represented Staten Island residents in fighting against the illegal immigrants being housed in the small community, told The Epoch Times. “The migrants have been bussed out and the building is empty.”

“They say you can’t fight City Hall, but right here we have a huge win for the people,” added Mr. Fonte.

The Saint John’s Villa shelter was emptied on Monday after the New York Fire Department showed up to do an inspection and discovered unsafe living conditions. However, instead of fixing the smoke detectors and remedying the other alleged health hazards, the department shuttered the entire building. Protestors believe that the site was closed and the 200 illegal immigrants it housed were removed due to the pressure from the community.

“With the amount of pressure that was placed on the city through the lawsuits and constant rallies with elected officials I can imagine that with all the migrants flooding the city this small number just wasn’t worth it,” said Mr. Fonte.

The use of the closed-down villa to house hundreds of migrants had led to demonstrations and outrage among residents. A crowd of Staten Island stood outside the shelter applauding and cheering as dozens of illegal immigrants were loaded onto buses and moved, according to video posted on X.

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Lawyers representing Staten Island residents had previously argued in court that the shelter needed to be closed. Attorneys representing the community claimed that in addition to not having the infrastructure, the shelter’s use of outdoor showers, which use water heaters running on generators 24 hours a day, have polluted the area with the run-off of raw sewage that flows off the side of the property.

Staten Island is facing the consequences of a growing surge of illegal immigrants into New York City, the only locality in the state considered to be a sanctuary city. Where to put the influx of new illegal immigrants has become a tense issue.

In September police made 10 arrests after fed-up residents of the borough took to the street and physically blocked the arrival of a bus carrying dozens of illegal immigrants to a residential school that had recently been converted into a shelter.

La Colmena, a nonprofit community-based organization working with “day laborers, domestic workers, and other low-wage immigrant workers” called for elected officials speaking out against the influx of illegal immigrants into residential Staten Island neighborhoods to be “held accountable”—and comparing their words to those trying to “execute an insurrection in DC.”

The city has long claimed a legal obligation to provide housing for every resident under the “right to shelter” law, which was first established in 1981. The rule came into existence after advocates for the homeless claimed the right to shelter in a lawsuit. The city agreed with the homeless advocates, signing a “consent decree,” which pledged to provide shelter to anyone suffering “physical, mental, or social dysfunction.”

City officials claim an estimated influx of 100,000 illegal immigrants has strained the city’s resources and services. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has insisted that the city can’t sustain the numbers of new illegal immigrants, even by utilizing the outer boroughs, and has called on the rest of the state to help ease the burden. Staten Island officials claim that it is a crisis of the mayor’s own creation in deeming New York City a “sanctuary city.”

Growing safety concerns over the city’s bussing of illegal immigrants into the outer boroughs have renewed efforts from Staten Island officials to break away from the Big Apple and formally succeed.

“The people feel like we are on a tugboat attached to the Titanic,” Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella told The Epoch Times in an earlier interview. “The people can see that the city is sinking, and unless we are okay with sinking, too, there is a need to separate.”

After several weeks of protesting, residents of the Staten Island neighborhood are hopeful that the fight to reclaim their neighborhood is over.

“Everyone is hoping for finality,” said Mr. Fonte. “But of course there is always the specter that the fight will have to be resumed again and if it does the people here are ready.”