New York City is ending a program that provided prepaid debit cards to immigrant families living in sanctuary cities.
In a statement obtained by FOX5 New YorkAdams announced the end of the immediate response card pilot program.
“Through the Immediate Response Card pilot program, we are reducing food waste, directing millions of dollars into local economies, and providing more culturally appropriate food for the more than 2,600 immigrant families in our care. We were able to provide a wide variety of food,” Adams said. “As we move towards more competitive contracts for the Asylum Seeker Program, we have chosen not to renew the emergency contract for this pilot program after the one-year period ends.”
Earlier this year, New York City officials began distributing prepaid debit cards to immigrant families living in the Big Apple. The prepaid cards were first distributed in March as part of the city's Immediate Response Card (IRC) program and are intended to be used only to purchase essential items such as food.
The mayor's office previously said access to the program is limited to those participating in another program that provides four-week hotel stays to families with children or those planning to give birth. .
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Migrants reach for food distributed outside the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on August 2, 2023. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
The benefits for illegal immigrants residing in the city will be paid weekly until the end of a four-week hotel stay, with up to nearly $350 weekly for a family of four with two children under 5.
Officials said the program will save the city about $600,000 per month, or about $7.2 million annually.
New York City, which has seen an influx of more than 200,000 immigrants since 2022, has been offering settler options to immigrants ever since. Last year, it opened a reissue center to provide migrants with one-way tickets.
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Immigrants stand in front of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, which will be converted into a municipal shelter in 2023. (Selcuk Achar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Late last month, Fox News confirmed that 4,500 immigrants were sent back to Texas using bus and plane tickets purchased by the city, which was first reported by Bloomberg News.
According to Mayor Eric Adams' office, the top five destinations for immigrants leaving the Big Apple are Texas, Illinois, Florida, New York State and Colorado.
In total, more than 47,000 tickets were issued, with about 4,500 going to Texas. It is not clear how many of these migrants came from buses sent from Texas to New York.
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has begun busing migrants to New York City and other sanctuary cities in 2022, saying it is an effort to ease pressure on overwhelmed border communities. .
Abbott said he chose sanctuary cities — cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement — because they are contributing to the crisis.
Fox News Digital's Kyle Morris, Adam Shaw and Brooke Taylor contributed to this report.
