New York City officials are defending a pilot program to hand out prepaid debit cards to undocumented immigrants.
The mayor, vice mayor and other officials said the prepaid cards are intended to be used to purchase essential supplies and are not frivolous handouts, and that the city is piloting the program. defended.
“There is no free money. This is not an ATM card. You cannot withdraw cash,” Vice Mayor Fabian Levy said at a press conference, according to Politico.
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Single immigrant men, mostly from West Africa, gather in Tompkins Square Park as volunteers hand out food and clothing in New York City’s East Village neighborhood. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
The pilot program will start small with just 10 households receiving debit cards and will soon expand to 115 households.
“We can look back in six weeks and see what’s working and what’s not,” Deputy Mayor Ann Williams Isom said, as reported by Politico.
A $53 million contract was signed with New Jersey-based Mobility Capital Finance for the program. Families with two children under the age of 5 will receive $350 a week on the card, according to the New York Post.
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams arrives for a press conference at City Hall. Adams defended the prepaid card program and criticized those who have “distorted” its goals. (Luis C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams himself pushed back against accusations that prepaid debit cards were being used fraudulently.
Adam was asked on Tuesday whether handing out prepaid cards to migrants while simultaneously urging arrivals to go elsewhere would be a “mixed message”.
“When distorted, it sends mixed messages,” Adams said.
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Immigrants are unable to find work and struggle to survive by selling clothing and other second-hand goods on the streets of Queens, New York. (Lokman Vral Elibor/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The first batch of debit cards will reportedly be illegal immigration The mayor’s office previously confirmed to Fox News Digital that grants to buy food and baby supplies were distributed to a small number of immigrant families in the city on Monday.
This initiative is part of the report $53 million pilot program Despite public outcry, prepaid credit cards were distributed to immigrant families living in hotels.
Fox News Digital’s Kyle Morris contributed to this report.
