Furious Staten Island resident vows community will stop migrant shelter in its tracks: 'This is ground zero'

Scott Lobaido hopes NYC protests will spur a national movement against 'illegal immigration insanity'

A Staten Island resident vowed that efforts to house migrants in a quiet residential community will not stand after hundreds rallied Monday night to protest New York City sending illegal immigrants to a former school.

 "[We're] not going to let [it] happen," Scott Lobaido told Fox News Tuesday of the city's plan to shelter migrants at the shuttered St. John Villa Academy.

"This is not going to stay open, I'm telling you. And that's going to spread across this country. And it better. What happens in New York spreads throughout the whole country. This is ground zero. This cannot happen and it will not."

NYC RESIDENTS ERUPT OVER NEW MIGRANT SHELTER NEAR SCHOOLS: ‘NO F---ING WAY!’

Staten Island residents gather to protest outside of a closed Catholic school-turned-migrant shelter on Staten Island on August 28, 2023 in New York City.  (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Speaking on "Fox & Friends First," Lobaido said the number of protesters is growing as the community fights the "illegal immigration insanity," highlighting concerns surrounding potential crime and spread of disease.

"They slammed this illegal immigration shelter smack dab in the middle of a middle class, working class neighborhood right across the street," he said. "You have this facility with 90% of them dropped off young men. I'm tired also of the media saying there's women and children. There are no children in this facility," he claimed.

"This is ground zero, and the crowds are growing and growing."

VIOLENCE ERUPTS AMONG PROTESTING GROUPS OUTSIDE NEW  YORK CITY MAYOR'S HOME AS MIGRANT CRISIS HITS FEVER PITCH

"Right across the street, directly, 40 feet is a school, a pre-K to 12th grade school with young girls," he continued. "Think about what I'm saying. These men, I'm sure most of them are wonderful and looking for a better life. But we do not know. They are not vetted for crimes, rapes, murder, diseases. Think about what I'm saying. Think of the insanity of that."

Lawmakers and businesses have joined residents' outcry, including New York Democratic State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spantont, who called on the city to reverse the decision last week on "Fox & Friends."

"To me, this is another setback in giving this community an education center that they truly deserve," she said. "Most importantly, [it] is in an extremely quiet residential area, and the residents do not want this shelter here."

NYC ISSUES POSTERS TELLING MIGRANTS TO 'CONSIDER ANOTHER CITY,' WARNS OF SKY-HIGH PRICES.

NYC parents protested the location of a migrant shelter near schools in Staten Island (Staten Island Advance/Paul Liotta)

Lobaido, circling back to the effect the protests have had, said they are evidence that the American people's voices can change the outcome of the situation.

"The protest is working. And what exactly is this protest? It is the American working people out in the streets, finally, nonviolently, not aggressively, but using their voice, their anger. That's what America is all about. I've been telling people for 30 years as a patriotic activist, people need to get in the streets because they notice it."

A spokesperson for Adams released a statement to Fox News Digital via email: "New Yorkers are weary of bearing the brunt of this national crisis, and we empathize with their concerns. With more than 100,000 asylum seekers that have come through our intake system since spring 2022 and hundreds more continuing to arrive in our city asking for shelter daily, New York City has been left largely alone to deal with a national crisis that demands difficult decision-making. We have opened 206 sites, including 15 large-scale humanitarian relief centers, and are constantly searching for new places to provide asylum seekers with the shelter they are asking for. But let’s be clear: This situation demands a broader state and national solution."

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Taylor Penley is an associate editor with Fox News.