A group of refugees spent the weekend living in Trump's boyhood home

President Trump's childhood home in Queens, New York, was posted on Airbnb last month and, being filled with Trump family memorabilia and a life-size cutout of 45 himself, the residence appears to be the perfect place to stay if you're a superfan of the president. This weekend, though, it was utilized by some of Trump's biggest critics — refugees.

"As world leaders gather in New York for the United Nation's General Assembly, Oxfam [America] and refugees resettled in the United States from Syria, Somalia, and Vietnam gathered in Queens, New York — in the childhood home of President Trump — to send an unequivocal message to world leaders: refugees are welcome here," Oxfam America writes.

Ghassan al-Chahada, who arrived in the U.S. from Syria in 2012, stayed in what is thought to be Trump's childhood bedroom. "I had hopes I would get my green card and be able to visit my country," al-Chahada told The Associated Press. "But since Trump was elected I don't dare, I don't dare leave this country and not be able to come back."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

He mused about what he would say to Trump if the two ever met: "I would advise him to remember, to think about how he felt when he slept in this bedroom," al-Chahada said. "If he can stay in tune with who he was as a child, the compassion children have and the mercy, I would say he's a great person."

Eiman Ali, who was brought to the U.S. by her parents when they fled Somalia, also marveled at being in the place where Trump spent his early years. "Knowing Donald Trump was here at the age of four makes me think about where I was at the age of four," she said. "We're all kids who are raised to be productive citizens, who have all these dreams and hopes."