No, immigrants did not storm New York City Hall in pursuit of luxury hotel rooms

CLAIM: Immigrants in the U.S. illegally on Tuesday stormed New York City Hall, demanding housing in luxury hotels rather than city shelters.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Hundreds of Black immigrants assembled peacefully in City Hall Park during a hearing about racial inequities in New York’s shelter and immigrant support systems. They gathered there after it became clear that only around 100 people would be allowed into the hearing, The Associated Press reported. The New York Police Department told the AP that no arrests were made in relation to the gathering. Attendees said they came for a variety of reasons, such as to support City Council members at the hearing or to see if they could get information about jobs and housing.

THE FACTS: Social media users are misrepresenting what happened at City Hall with false claims about how the immigrants acted and why they were there.

Many shared videos from the gathering that showed large groups of people calmly standing, milling about or waiting in line. Other footage showed people cheering outside the building.

“Illegals have just swarmed NYC City Hall and have surrounded it,” reads one X post that had received approximately 31,000 likes and 20,000 shares as of Wednesday. “They’re trying to occupy the building and are demanding luxury hotel rooms provided to illegals instead of the shelters that NYC has provided. This is only going to get worse.”