New York state is giving cash payments to thousands of immigrants who are not normally eligible for state welfare programs.
Democratic New York Gov. Cathy Hochul’s administration quietly changed eligibility rules for the state’s “safety net assistance” program in May, allowing non-citizens with pending asylum claims to receive benefits, according to a report. Thousands of immigrants have now become eligible for benefits. The story was reported by the New York Post and confirmed by Fox News Digital.
The measure was made through the state’s Office of Temporary Disability Assistance, which sent a message to social service agencies across the state, the report said, but the agency did not say how many immigrants are currently receiving payments. I haven’t done it.
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New York Governor Kathy Hochul (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)
Reached for comment by Fox News Digital, an OTDA spokesperson said only a “small portion” of the $4.3 billion the governor set aside for the immigration crisis has been used for payments, and that the current He said he estimates that about 90% of the country’s immigrant population has been paid. You will not be eligible to receive benefits under the new rules.
“At the request of the City of New York, OTDA has made technology updates to help minority immigrants receive certain additional assistance in accordance with state and federal law,” a spokesperson said.
However, the report points out that more than 173,000 immigrants will be relocating in New York City alone since 2022, and if 10% of them were receiving benefits, the city alone would have about 10,000 new immigrants. 7,000 people will be beneficiaries.
Asylum seekers line up in front of the historic Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on September 27, 2023. The hotel was converted into a city-run shelter for newly arrived immigrant families. (Selcuk Achar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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The report says migrants are only eligible for payments if they complete their paperwork for asylum applications, and checks totaling several hundred dollars a month are only meant to pay for rent, utilities, clothing and other necessities. It is said that it can be used.
Michael Cracker, chairman of the Yale County Republican Committee, told Fox News Digital that the payments are “very unpleasant for hardworking New Yorkers, many of whom are struggling.”
Cracker pointed out that some of those struggling are homeless veterans, who he argued are “asking for help from the state.”
“Their states are instead choosing to provide aid to these people, many of whom will ultimately be found to be in this country illegally,” Cracker said. Ta.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R.N.Y.) decried the revelations of the payments, saying they were designed to “attract immigrants” to New York while lower- and middle-class New York City natives struggle to make ends meet. He argued that this is “another way.”
“People are coming to New York from all over the world to take advantage of the left-wing programs that the governor and mayor are running, but at the same time they’re milking taxpayers out of their heads,” Malliotakis said. New York Post.
Single immigrant men, mostly from West Africa, gather as volunteers distribute food and clothing in Tompkins Square Park in New York City’s East Village neighborhood on January 27, 2024. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
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The policy was also criticized by Democratic City Councilman Robert Holden, who said, “Endless handouts to the entire world is a slap in the face to every citizen who has contributed and sacrificed to this country.”
Laura Reese, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Control Center, echoed similar sentiments, saying New York leaders should “always choose Americans over illegal aliens when distributing limited resources.” ” he told FOX News Digital.
“Faster work permit applications, prepaid credit cards and welfare benefits will only encourage more illegal immigration,” Reese said. “Then the billions of dollars they set aside quickly dry up, more tax dollars have to be spent, and the cycle becomes a fiscal abyss.”
But OTDA said only those legally in the country are eligible for benefits.
“To be clear, no one here illegally is eligible for these benefits,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
