One person has been arrested following a violent confrontation between NYPD officers and migrants in the city’s downtown Randall’s Island.
Chaos erupted at the increasingly illegal tent camp Thursday when officials asked an individual not registered to stay at the facility to leave, police said.
Video circulating on social media shows police detaining one individual before several others joined the fray. There were no serious injuries, police later said.
It is the latest in a series of violent attacks since Randall’s Island began housing migrants in August 2023, as New York struggled to house large numbers of people arriving from other states.
Last month, a 24-year-old man was stabbed to death on the island while waiting in line for food.
A violent confrontation between NYPD officers and migrants in the city’s downtown Randall’s Island
A video circulating on social media shows police detaining one individual before several others joined the fray.
Witnesses told police that Dafren Cabello, 24, was attacked by four men after allegedly chatting with the girlfriend of a Peruvian man.
Immigrants residing at the center have said they regularly worry about their safety at the shelter, and Mauricio Pinto told the New York Post, “Everyone has a knife.”
Residents have also warned that the center is being divided along ethnic lines into armed “camps” with Hispanics, Africans and Haitians facing each other.
“There are definitely camps,” Moroccan migrant Nabil Jajhlaq told the New York Post.
‘There is a lot of theft, if you leave your phone or charger for a moment, they will take it away immediately.
“They will take all your things that you don’t have.”
The Randall’s Island migrant shelter is fully funded by New York State. It spreads across 6.4 acres of land and is home to nearly 3,000 adult male immigrants.
The Randall’s Island migrant shelter is one of the makeshift tent cities that were set up in August 2023 to help with the city’s migrant crisis. The officers are photographed at the facility on Thursday.
Young father Dafren Cabello, 24, had been in the United States for just a month when he was stabbed to death on Randalls Island after leaving his home in Venezuela.
Conditions are grim in the 3,000-person tent city, New York’s largest migrant shelter, as winter arrives on Randalls Island in New York’s East River.
The shelter opened in August 2023, replacing a smaller center (pictured) that opened a year earlier.
“Everyone has a knife,” added migrant Mauricio Pinto.
The Randall’s Island migrant shelter is fully funded by New York State. It spreads across 6.4 acres of land and is home to nearly 3,000 adult male immigrants.
Violence between law enforcement and immigrants has broken out in other parts of the city.
Last month, a group of immigrants attacked NYPD officers in Times Square when officers attempted to disperse a disorderly group in front of 220 West 42 Street.
According to the NYPD, the immigrants began attacking the officers, kicking them in the head and body while the two officers attempted to restrain one of the other men, ripping off his sweatshirt.
Several of the suspects were initially released on personal recognizance, meaning they were released without bail while their case is pending.
The measure caused widespread unrest across the city, with calls for stricter enforcement.
By December 2023, more than 140,000 migrants had flooded into the city over an 18-month period, pushing the city to its limits.
City officials have spent about $3.5 billion on the thousands of migrants and nearly 70,000 remain in city shelters.
New York is a Right to Shelter state and is required to house asylum seekers, but shelters have been filling up at an astronomical rate.
In Manhattan, several landmark hotels have been converted into makeshift shelters and temporary housing.