NYC launches $53 million program to hand out credit cards to migrants, illegal immigrant families to receive nearly $1,000 a month

New York City will soon start handing out pre-paid credit cards to illegal immigrants, according to a new report.

The New York Post reported, "The $53 million pilot program, run by the New Jersey company Mobility Capital Finance, will provide asylum seekers arriving at the Roosevelt Hotel with the city cash to help them buy food, according to city records."

Mobility Capital Finance will provide "Immediate Response Cards" to families being housed in hotels by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

The first pre-paid credit cards will be provided to illegal aliens residing at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan. However, if the program is deemed to be a "success," the city will expand the program to the estimated 15,000 migrant families being housed in NYC hotels.

The cards will only be available for use at bodegas, grocery stores, supermarkets, and convenience stores. The migrants reportedly must sign an affidavit promising to only spend the money on food or baby supplies or they will be removed from the pilot program.

According to the Daily Mail, "It is unclear how city officials will check if cards are being abused – and if the scheme will worsen the crisis by encouraging other migrants to head to the Big Apple in the hopes of receiving free money."

The amount of available money on the pre-paid cards will vary depending on the size of the family and their income.

A family of four could be supplied with nearly $1,000 each month. The cards will reportedly be refilled every 28 days.

Currently, the city is forking over $11 per meal to feed the illegal immigrants.

The administration of New York City Mayor Eric Adams touted that the program would save the city millions.

“Not only will this provide families with the ability to purchase fresh food for their culturally relevant diets and the baby supplies of their choosing, but the pilot program is expected to save New York City more than $600,000 per month, or more than $7.2 million annually,” Adams spokesperson Kayla Mamelak said.

The New York Times reported in December that New York City awarded contractor DocGo with a $432 million no-bid contract to provide illegal immigrants with three meals per day.

However, the outlet noted that more than 70,000 meals had been "wasted" between October 22, 2023, and November 22, 2023.

Mobility Capital Finance CEO Wole Coaxum framed the $53 million program as helping asylum seekers and the local economy.

"MoCaFi looks forward to partnering with New York City to disburse funds for asylum seekers to purchase fresh, hot food," Coaxum said. "MoCaFi’s goal is to expand access to financial resources for individuals excluded from banking, such as asylum seekers, while helping the local economy."

In October, New York City New York City started providing illegal immigrants with one-way airplane tickets to anywhere in an attempt to deal with the Big Apple's migrant crisis.

In November, Mayor Adams announced massive budget cuts for the Big Apple with significant reductions to the NYPD force, education, and libraries. City officials admitted that the deep budget cuts stem from the current migrant crisis, and warned there could be future financial restraints if the illegal immigrant situation continues.

In August, Adams warned that the influx of illegal aliens would cost New York City an estimated $12 billion over the next three years.

Adams – a Democrat – said at the time, "Immigration is the New York story. It is the American story. But as I declared nearly a year ago, we are facing an unprecedented state of emergency due to the asylum seeker crisis."

Adams also said the Big Apple is "past our breaking point" because of a "broken immigration system."

Adams had a much different viewpoint of illegal immigration in October 2021 when he declared New York City a sanctuary city and welcomed undocumented migrants. However, he changed his tune on illegal immigrants after Republican governors in red states began shipping illegal aliens to blue cities that proclaimed to be sanctuary cities.

As of last month, more than 100,000 illegal immigrants have recently been transported to New York City.

New York City is already besieged by a homeless crisis.

"In recent years, homelessness in New York City has reached the highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s," according to the Coalition for the Homeless – the "nation’s oldest advocacy and direct service organization helping homeless individuals and families."

The organization noted, "In November 2023, there were 92,824 homeless people, including 33,365 homeless children, sleeping each night in New York City’s main municipal shelter system. A total of 23,945 single adults slept in shelters each night in November 2023."

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