Refugees are renting out Trump’s childhood home during this week’s UN General Assembly

With President Donald Trump back in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly this week, a group of refugees is staying at the president’s childhood home, renting the Queens property through Airbnb. The Jamacia Estates home at 85-15 Wareham Place is being rented by Oxfam, an anti-poverty organization, to bring attention to the refugee crisis (h/t NY Post). The group invited four refugees to talk with journalists at the rental, highlighting their concern with Trump’s travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority countries and all refugees that was introduced in January. After facing multiple legal challenges, the Supreme Court allowed the refugee policy to remain temporarily, but justices will hear arguments about the travel ban on Oct. 10.

As 6sqft covered in August, Trump’s former residence was listed on Airbnb for $725 per night. The Tudor-style home was first up for sale in July 2016 and purchased in December by real-estate investor Michael Davis for $1.4 million. Davis then flipped the property for $2.14 million at an auction last March. The new owners, Mansion Global, decided to rent out the home for $3,500 per month, with the tenant renting out the home while he lives there.

Although Trump only lived in the home until the age of 4, the Airbnb is filled with Trump memorabilia, including the book “Trump: The Art of the Deal,” photos of the president and even a life-size cutout of Trump in the living room.

Shannon Scribner, acting director of the humanitarian department of Oxfam America, told the Associated Press: “We wanted to send a strong message to Trump and world leaders that they must do more to welcome refugees.”

Eiman Ali, a 22-year-old refugee from Yemen whose parents fled war-torn Somalia, told reporters, “Knowing Donald Trump was here at the age of four makes me think about where I was at the age of four. We’re all kids who are raised to be productive citizens, who have all these dreams and hopes.”

It remains unclear if any more groups will be renting out Trump’s childhood home in the future. According to the Queens Chronicle, the Department of Buildings issued a partial vacate order for the home, after the owners illegally converted the basement into an apartment. The basement was listed on the Airbnb listing and the Community Board 8 received a number of complaints about people illegally living there. The owners did not create safe exits in the basement and also remodeled the space without the necessary permits to create a bedroom and install water and waste lines. While the listing was active on Friday, as of today, the listing is no longer available on Airbnb’s website.

[Via NY Post]

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Photos from now in-active Airbnb listing unless otherwise noted