FILE – Recently arrived migrants wait in a garage area of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Marathon Border Patrol Station, Jan. 4, 2023. AP
New York City: More than 36,400 immigrants have been sent to New York City and around 14 taxpayer-funded hotels have been chosen to house them. But they haven’t been on their nicest behaviour ever since they arrived, hotel employees claim.
An employee of Row, one of New York’s best-known hotels acted as a whistle-blower after he released videos of immigrants trashing the hotel, wasting fresh food and even ‘having sex in the stairs.’
Felipe Rodriguez, the employee of Row said on a chat show called The Ingraham Angle, “It’s a disgrace. The chaos that we see at the Row today is caused by migrants being drunk, drinking all day, smoking marijuana and consuming drugs.”
Employees lose control over hotel
The situation at Row has gone out of hand and employees are having a hard time taking control of the situation, says Rodriguez, who works as a housekeeper, according to ABC7.
He says the hotel is also struggling with a problem of “domestic violence” among migrants inside the walls of Row while many find youngsters “having sex” in the staircase.
Once, Rodriguez found a migrant scuffling with a security guard that created a lot of commotion in the hotel.
“There’s no accountability. “There was a lot of stuff that I had to be responsible for. Fortunately for the migrants, they got the government of the United States to hand them carte blanche to pretty much do as they wish. They go in and out of the hotel at will,” he added.
Wastage of food
The migrants have reportedly wasted thousands of dollars worth of food. Employees have testified that large bags of bagels, sandwiches and other food items get thrown out daily.
“They said they don’t like it,” he said. “This is all food that is going to waste. This is insane,” Rodriguez said.
“The food is one of the saddest issues that we face at the Row. I like helping people, but how is it that you take all this money … and we got people that are homeless in New York City that can’t even get a sandwich?” he added.
A City Hall spokesperson has informed that sandwiches will be only served to those who want them.
Employees flag safety concerns
Immigrants would rather cook their own food than eat what is provided to them and hence they use hot plates inside their rooms, which poses a major threat to fire safety.
Another housekeeping attendant told Eyewitness News, “It’s every day you’ll find someone cooking. You can smell the eggs and rice that they’re making. They burned the carpets with the hot plates.”
“The conditions of the rooms are horrible. The carpets are bad. They write on the walls. I would say 95% of those rooms are destroyed,” the female housekeeper, who did not want to be identified for the fear of getting fired, added.
‘We fear we’ll get fired’
Employees and workers at the hotel are apprehensive about their job status once the migrants leave.
“They will have to renovate after they’re not there and that’s going to put us out of work for God knows how long,” Rodriguez said.
He added that the hotel staff is instructed not to speak with the migrants about issues. He described the working environment of the hotel as “hostile”.
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