NYC youth football coach sounds alarm on migrant crisis denying kids access to fields

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High school soccer game cancelled as migrants refuse to leave NYC field

Outreach U NYC co-founder George Lanese on how migrants in NYC parks are forcing the cancellation of your sporting events.

A New York City high school soccer game was reportedly cancelled due to migrants taking up field space at a local park.

Youth football coach George Lanese joined "Fox & Friends," Monday, to react to how the crisis of illegal immigration has been directly impacting his and other youth teams in the city. 

Lanese said he encountered the same issue when a group of migrants were playing a pickup soccer game on the field where he had a permit for his team to practice. After a 15-minute argument, Lanese said the soccer players eventually left the field. 

"A lot of people don't have the perspective of what it's like in New York City," said Lanese, co-founder of Outreach U NYC.

"It's hard to get a field in New York City," said Lanese, explaining that a permit is needed, unlike in suburban areas where field space is more abundant.

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Migrants are seen sleeping outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan on July 31, 2023. Asylum seekers are camping outside the Roosevelt Hotel as the Manhattan relief center is at capacity.  (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

According to the New York Post, approximately 40 boys from two high school teams showed up on April 14th at Manhattan's Thomas Jefferson Park for a game. However, a group of what appeared to be African migrants refused to leave the field.

When police showed up and requested the permit to play, the game had already been delayed 30 minutes and the teams felt unsafe. Parents felt uncomfortable following the incident and no longer want to play at the field.

Lanese recalled that New York City was the last to bring back sports following the pandemic and now "people other than kids are being put first." 

"The problem we're seeing right now is that they're implementing policies without considering the impact it has on the community and the kids in that community." 

Lanese expressed the importance of sports for kids and how the limited opportunities due to this ongoing crisis is concerning. He said many children in the city do not have a safe local park or outdoor space to play, and they rely on organized sports.

"Your kids need an outlet. … Sports are great for learning team benefits, helping kids focus on school, focus on a career, we are losing a little bit of that dynamic, of not putting kids first and their needs first. We're focusing too much on adult decisions and adult opportunities." 

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Randall's Island Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center, center, a complex of giant tents, began housing migrants in October 2022. ((AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews))

Parents expressed outrage last year after the city began using turf fields at Randall’s Island to house makeshift migrant shelters.

"It seems that the immigrants are being prioritized over our children and taking away the little space that they have. … By taking those fields away, you're taking away precious space from our children, and we don't really have a lot of it," a mother told host Harris Faulkner.  

Lanese said he has safety concerns about bringing his teams to Randall’s Island this summer.

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