I hope indeed that this isn't something that would normally happen, but if I were an American who loved his country I'd be inclined to see it as a worrying wake-up call.

Every priest is not a pedophile, the streets of New York City is no more dangerous than other cities, cops are not automatically on the take, Italians are not connected with the mob, and America is not trying to make life difficult for visitors. Nothing in there I'd disagree with. (Though I'd maybe insert "some" or "many" before "other cities".)

However life was made very difficult for these visitors, without a need for trying. A medical crisis like that should have been a chance to show helpfulness and generosity and a spirit of welcome. The kind of things on which Americans are right to pride themselves, because they are pretty characteristic.

But the real question surely isn't "Is this how you treat visitors?" but "Is this how you treat your own people?" Or, as the heading of thsi thread puts it, "Is this how you treat kids in New York?" And that's not an assumption, it's a question.