Youth soccer game canceled in New York City as crowd of immigrants refuse to leave the field – even as police are called

• The crisis reared its ugly head last week when the Manhattan Kickers canceled a scheduled game because immigrants were using a public park.
• The migrants used profanity at the coach and refused to move when police arrived.
• After issuing permits, games were postponed so much that children and parents no longer felt safe.

New York City's immigration crisis continued to wreak havoc as groups of migrants refused to leave the country, leaving parents and children feeling unsafe and forcing the cancellation of youth soccer games.

The city has taken in more than 175,000 migrants and currently hosts about 67,500, limiting stays in shelters to 30 days to ease the overflow. .

Democratic Mayor Eric Adams has harshly criticized the Biden administration and the influx of migrants into sanctuary cities, calling it “one of the biggest humanitarian crises this city has ever seen.”

The crisis reared its ugly head last week when the Manhattan Kickers' under-17 team played FA New York, which was scheduled with permission at Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem.

“I directly told them to leave, and some of them considered it, but four or five of them said, 'Look, there's nothing we can do now, we're leaving. You don’t have to, you can do anything.’ We want it,” coach Erik Johansson said.

The game was scheduled for 5 p.m. on April 14, but was delayed by 30 minutes because police were unable to remove the immigrants.

According to the New York Post, the migrants appear to have come primarily from Africa.

More than 1,000 immigrants from West African countries gathered ahead of a City Council oversight hearing focused on the experiences of black arrivals.

The report said the majority of participants were from Haiti, Guinea and West Africa and had joined the protests demanding more aid, better shelter and work permits.

Police asked to check permission for youth teams to use the park grounds.

“When you show up with two teams in uniform, a referee and two coaches, usually no one wants to show you their permit,” Johansson said.

When Johansson was finally able to send a copy of the permit to the NYPD, the children and parents no longer felt safe enough to use the park.

“Even if the game is over, we don't know if they're waiting, so even if the cops kick them out, the game might not be over. So we all said, 'This is too dangerous.' ,” Johansson added.

Parents and the team agreed that they never wanted to use the park again.

“It's very frustrating that those who refused to follow the rules won. That's the message the kids got,” said team mother Maud Maron, calling this an example of New York City's misconduct. .

Johansson, a Swedish citizen, said the crisis reminded her of how bad things are in her home country.

“I've seen this before. I know how bad it can be,” he said.

Adams estimates New York City will spend $12 billion over the next three years to respond to the influx, setting up large-scale emergency shelters, leasing hotels and providing a variety of government services for immigrants. .

Democratic leaders are facing a fierce backlash after schools, hotels and community centers were handed over to 180,000 migrants who they warned would “destroy” the city.

But he had harsh words, saying he felt the Biden administration was taking it upon themselves to deal with the crisis.

“We are extremely proud of the dignity and respect we were able to provide these immigrants, and all others in our care. But there is no doubt that New York City “We should not have been left almost alone to manage this national humanitarian crisis.” ”