NYC launches $53M program to hand out pre-paid credit cards to migrant families

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NY Post

Mayor Eric Adams’ administration will soon start handing out pre-paid credit cards to migrant families being put up in Big Apple hotels, The Post has learned.

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.

It’ll start with a group of 500 migrant families in short-term hotel stays and will replace the current food service offered there, according to City Hall.

The cards can only be used at bodegas, grocery stores, supermarkets and convenience stores — and migrants must sign an affidavit swearing they will only spend the funds on food and baby supplies or they will be kicked out of the program.

The Immediate Response Card initiative appears akin to the state’s food stamp program, dubbed SNAP, which provides lower-income New Yorkers with a credit card to cover the cost of meals, and will provide funds based on the same scale.

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Illegal migrants reportedly escaping NYC to California could be eligible for numerous free benefits

Starting Jan. 1, illegal migrants were eligible to receive free health care benefits, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced

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DOE To Push Forward $1.2 Billion Biden Plan To Expand Federal College-Prep Aid To Illegal Immigrants

A draft proposal released Jan. 12 by the Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education argued in favor of extending Federal TRIO programs to illegal immigrants. TRIO programs are a set of eight “outreach and student services” initiatives meant to prepare “low-income individuals, first-generation college students, and individuals with disabilities” for college, as seen on the program page. 

At the upcoming meeting, subcommittee members will discuss “participant eligibility” and then present their recommendations to an overhead committee, as stated by the Office of Postsecondary Education. Subcommittee members could continue to push the proposal to include illegal immigrants in TRIO programs.

Some services provided are “academic tutoring, personal counseling, mentoring,” and “financial guidance,” as well as “assistance in applying to college,” “workplace and college visits,” and “special instruction in reading, writing, study skills, and mathematics,” according to the Council for Opportunity in Education.