NYC begins handing out prepaid debit cards to migrants

NYC begins handing out prepaid debit cards to migrants, per NYP.

The initial group of debit cards, reportedly intended for use by undocumented immigrants to buy food and baby essentials, was distributed Monday to a few migrant families in the city, as confirmed by New York City Mayor Eric Adams' office to Fox News Digital.

This action is part of a reported $53 million test program to provide prepaid debit cards to migrant families housed in hotels, despite public outcry.

The initiative, confirmed by the mayor's office, will offer migrant families of four with two children under 5 up to $350 per week until the end of their stay. It began with a small number of families on Monday and will expand to approximately 115 families, or about 460 individuals, over the next week.

The prepaid cards can only be used at bodegas, grocery stores, supermarkets, and convenience stores. To be eligible for the program, migrants must sign an affidavit pledging to use the funds only for food and baby supplies; otherwise, they risk losing access to the funds, according to Adams' office.

Furthermore, the mayor's office confirmed that the pilot program was launched in phases, starting with a few hotels. City officials have indicated that the cards will be loaded with one week's worth of funds at a time and that their usage will be monitored.

The cards are reportedly being distributed at the city’s arrival center, the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, to migrant families staying at hotels being used as emergency shelters.

Mobility Capital Finance, a company based in New Jersey, has partnered with the city to administer the program.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a city hall spokesperson expressed excitement about the initiative, describing it as a "cost-saving measure [that] will replace the city’s current system of providing non-perishable food boxes to migrant families staying in hotels, much of which is often discarded."

"Our continued success is a result of our ongoing efforts to find new ways to better serve the hundreds of individuals and families arriving every single day, as well as the longtime New Yorkers experiencing homelessness who are already in our care," the spokesperson added. "That is why we are excited to launch an innovative, cost-saving pilot program with Mobility Capital Finance to distribute pre-paid cards to migrant families to purchase only food and baby supplies."