GhLinks Media
A young Venezuelan father lost his life on Saturday night amidst rising tensions at New York City’s largest migrant shelter.
The incident, allegedly sparked by a disagreement over a woman, has shaken the community and raised concerns about safety within the facility.
According to witnesses, Dafren Cabello, 24, was engaged in conversation with another resident’s girlfriend when the encounter escalated into a physical altercation.
Four men reportedly attacked Cabello, with one individual inflicting two fatal stab wounds.
Police were called to the scene at Randalls Island shortly after 7:30 PM, responding to reports of a violent fight in the center’s cafeteria tent.
Details surrounding the incident remain under investigation, and authorities have not yet released the identities of the individuals involved.
Asylum seekers at the 3,000-capacity tented city have warned that the center is splitting on ethnic lines into armed ‘camps’ with Hispanics, Africans and Haitians pitted against each other.
And the center’s one cafeteria has become a particular flashpoint where the groups rub up against each other while queueing for food.
‘There are definitely camps,’ Moroccan migrant Nabil Jajhlaq told the New York Post.
‘There is a lot of stealing, if you put your phone down or your charger for a moment, they take it immediately.
‘Any of your stuff that you don’t have they will take.’
‘Everyone has a knife,’ migrant Mauricio Pinto added.
The center opened in August amid a report from city officials that more than 100,000 migrants had passed through the five boroughs since 2022.
As of December 2023, more than 140,000 migrants had flooded into the city over an 18-month period, stretching the city to its financial limits.
