Exclusive | Skid Row’s illegal migrant family realize ‘American dream is an illusion’ in California — and they were better off in Colombia

A homeless migrant family living with their six-year-old son on Skid Row would have been better staying put in Colombia, an advocate has warned.

CEO of VetComm Kate Monroe said the family of four have found themselves living “with a bunch of zombies” and people “overdosing.”

She said illegals who smuggle their way into California after quickly realizing “the American dream is an illusion” as they live in filth in places like the notorious Los Angeles district.

Her comments come after citizen journalist Nick Shirley uncovered one family living in a tent and mobile home on Skid Row surrounded by addicts.

The group, which included a six-year-old boy called Dylan, were found living in squalor and struggling to make ends meet after coming to the US from Colombia.

Monroe said: “They didn’t think they were going to come here and end up in a tent.” She says the illegals have made it over the border with the help of cartels and have no idea where to go when they get here.

She said: “They’re living on the street with a bunch of zombies. They’re walking over disease, and filth. And they might walk by someone who’s overdosing. It’s scary.”

Monroe, who has explored drug riddled areas all over the West Coast and went to Skid Row in January with gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco, says the illegals have it worse here than at home.

She continued: “They were not safe when they came here and they aren’t safe now. The American dream is an illusion.” The migrants are getting shaken down on daily basis she adds, paying a ”spot fee.”

She added: ”You can’t just set up a tent or park a motorhome. One street may be run by one gang, and the other by a cartel.”

Monroe says most of the illegals living like Angelo’s family want to leave America, “It’s going to be very difficult for them to get off of Skid Row and find a place to live.”

The California Post found Dylan playing with his toy helicopter in his pajamas while sitting on the sidewalk filled with needles and trash.

He has lived out of a motorhome on Stanford Street in the worst section of LA’s slum for over two months, after his parents Angelo and Julia parked their motorhome on the notorious street.

Angelo’s brother Antonio also lives with them. “We were on Towne [a street just a block away] but we didn’t think we’d survive,” Angelo, 27, told The Post through a translator.

Living on Skid Row has Dylan’s mom Julia terrified something will happen to him. They lock themselves in the motorhome when Angelo steps out, but that’s not safe either.

“The other day a motorhome was set on fire and everything in it burned up,” Julia said. Daily life is brutal. Whole blocks are swallowed by tents. Sidewalks have been turned into makeshift bedrooms and kitchens.

Open-air drug use is seen daily. Untreated mental illness plays out on the pavement. Chronic medical crises unfold curbside, day after day.

“Its not a good place for a kid”, says Angelo, who illegally crossed the border two years ago from Columbia with his family during the Biden administration.

The trip took two and half months, with the the family taking the train, but mostly walking through the jungle. They crossed from Mexico into California.

Angelo says he makes $150 dollars a day working construction. He once had an apartment, but claimed it was dangerous due to rampant drug use in the building.

The Post did not see a police officer patrolling the area or any outreach services during the three-hour visit. All of this exists against the backdrop of massive public spending.

In recent years, LA has committed billions of dollars toward homelessness programs, including shelters, outreach, permanent supportive housing and mental health services.

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority alone manages hundreds of millions of dollars annually in city, county, state and federal funds. The authority wasn’t immediately available for comment.

The county’s Skid Row Action Plan has directed roughly $280 million toward expanded housing, healthcare and supportive services in the area since 2022, yet Skid Row still remains.