Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, based in New York City, has faced protests regarding its migrant facility built to hold up to 1,000 single adult men that opened Aug. 15, according to an Aug. 16 report from ABC 7.
Protesters gathered in Queens around Creedmoor Aug. 16, the day after it opened, claiming the migrant tent city should not be located near a YMCA, elementary school and playground.
The state has been working with the city to find a location to house migrants but have been unable to find a location. The city has "repeatedly asked the federal government to speed up the work permit authorization process," in hopes of enabling the migrants to become independent sooner, according to the report.
Currently, 100 migrants are seeking shelter in the facility, but officials expect all 1,000 beds to be full soon, according to the report. Migrants have been sleeping along the sidewalk while they wait for processing, and the city claims big emergency spaces such as the one in Queens became the only option left, Deputy Mayor Fabian Levy told ABC 7.