'Thousands' of illegal immigrants expected to crowd into New York City public schools: report

New York City is preparing for yet another onslaught of illegal immigrants, with "thousands" set to descend upon the area over the coming weeks. 

While each wave of migration has further strained the city's resources, officials have warned that the upcoming influx will be especially taxing given the proportion of families with school-age children.

As the New York Post reports, education leaders, including state Education Department Commissioner Betty Rosa and New York City School Chancellor David Banks, held a meeting on Monday in which they discussed potential solutions to the problems associated with trying to squeeze migrant children into already-crowded schools.

One of the ideas floated was to move some of the families out of the city to communities in Upstate New York, where schools may have more space for their children.

The issue of school overcrowding was addressed by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) during a press conference in Albany last week. She stated that it would "make more sense" to send migrant children to "schools that have capacity."

Hochul also expressed concern over the students' need for language classes.
 

"You also want to make sure that there's, you know, the proper language skills being taught there," she said. "English as a second language — you need specialized teachers, so not every school is, lends itself to being the best place for students."

Following Monday's meeting, City Hall restated its commitment to ensuring migrants have the resources they need.

"Our city has gone and continues to go above and beyond to manage this unprecedented humanitarian crisis," a representative said, "and we remain committed to working with our statewide partners to assist these children and families."

Since the summer of 2022 well over 11,000 migrant children have been enrolled in schools operated by the city's Department of Education.

Earlier this year, officials came under fire from parents after it was revealed that migrants in Kindergarten to Grade 5 were not required to show proof that they had received the numerous childhood vaccinations mandatory for other students. 

"When you are talking now about hundreds of children entering a school and coming from countries where we know the same childhood vaccinations are not available," the parent warned, "it's hard to not see where vulnerable families could be put at risk."