18 arrested after brawl among illegal immigrants at NYC tent shelter

Eighteen people were arrested in connection with the fighting, though the suspect, who attacked the 24-year-old victim, has been revealed not to be among them, and is still on the run.

According to the New York Post, the incident took place around 3:30 pm when two rival groups began fighting with one another. While it began inside the shelter, things quickly escalated and moved outside. Witnesses said those taking part in the brawl were armed with knives and threw rocks.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was stabbed in the neck during the altercation. When emergency medical personnel arrived on scene, he was rushed to Harlem Hospital, where he is in stable condition.

Authorities recovered multiple knives, and the alleged participants were arrested. Twelve of them were given summonses for disorderly conduct, while the other six were hit with charges ranging from criminal weapons possession and menacing to attempted assault.

The fighting comes just 11 days after another illegal immigrant was stabbed at the shelter, however, in that case, the victim succumbed to his injuries.

In that case, the dispute had broken out after the suspect started talking with the victim's girlfriend.

Those currently being housed at the shelter, which Mayor Eric Adams' administration opened last year, have repeatedly complained about a lack of security and rampant crime.

Following the earlier fatal incident, Adams' office said officials would be "redoubling" security efforts at the shelter in response.

"The overwhelming majority of migrants in our care came to our city in search of a better life and the American Dream," a spokesperson for the mayor said at the time. "The small number of those disrupting that journey for the rest of the migrants in our care by acting violently will face enforcement to the fullest extent of the law."