Judge orders New York City to evict undocumented immigrants from former Staten Island school

This Tuesday a Staten Island Supreme Court judge ordered the evacuation of a former Catholic school in New York City that is being used to house hundreds of undocumented immigrants.

The St. John Villa Academy will no longer be used as a temporary shelter for immigrants after Judge Wayne Ozzi ordered the expulsion of the undocumented immigrants housed there and explained that there is probably no “right to refuge” in the state Constitution.

“If there were a right to shelter embedded in the State Constitution, all county and local municipalities upstate would be compelled to provide shelter to any and all migrant asylum seekers within their borders. Obviously they have not. A right to shelter, if it exists, would apply statewide, not just in New York City,” Ozzi stated in his order.

The city purchased the building after the school closed in 2018, under the promise that the site would be converted back into an educational institution. However, officials decided to use it to house hundreds of migrants, causing concern among area residents and leading to protests.

“This decision is a victory for the residents of Arrochar and, frankly, all Staten Islanders. We believed the City acted improperly in placing a migrant shelter within the heart of Arrochar, a low-density residential community and across the street from a Pre-K-12 school,” said Vito Fossella, Staten Island Borough President and one of the Republican legislators who filed the lawsuit against the city.

Despite the residents' agreement with the judge's decision, the City Council reported that it already has plans to appeal the ruling and assured that in the meantime, the school will continue to function as a refuge for undocumented immigrants, according to Daily News.

The mayor of New York City has stated that the influx of undocumented immigrants is exceeding the city's capacity and that this problem "will destroy New York ."

“Never in my life have I had a problem that I did not see an ending to. I don't see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City," he said.