In America, you don’t succeed in that way.
The group of migrants involved in an ongoing standoff outside the Manhattan hotel where they were instructed to move to a new refuge in Brooklyn came under fire from a Mexican immigrant who worked hard to realise the American dream.
“It’s bulls–t,” Bonfilio Solis, 43, fumed Wednesday. “These migrants expect benefits from the government and aren’t appreciating what they’re being given. They’re being very disrespectful.”
The three-star Watson Hotel in Hell’s Kitchen is where Solis, a Morningside Heights resident who is married with four children, said he wanted to see for himself.
However, as he pulled out his phone to record a video, some migrants started bothering him. They also harassed numerous journalists after outside activists tried to block the press media from the scene by holding up umbrellas.
City Hall has charged activists with instigating the weekend standoff.
Solis, who owns a remodelling company with two staff members, expressed his displeasure at the circumstance.
“I’ve been here 30 years. I never got nothing from the government but I busted my ass and now I own my own construction company,” he said. “My first job in America was washing dishes in a restaurant, then a waiter, then I got a job in construction and worked my way up to foreman.”
Solis added: “To see these guys sitting here, expecting everything to be given to them with no effort — it’s not fair to other migrants that are willing to work and are working for a better future.”
“They’ve been given shelter in Brooklyn but they won’t take it because they expect an expensive hotel room. It’s not right,” he said. “It gives migrants a bad name.”