Helping many families already, earlier this year New York City launched a controversial program that supported migrant families being put up in Big Apple hotels with prepaid debit cards. Now, just months after the city’s first round of 3,000 prepaid debit cards was released, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration recently announced it will be dramatically expanding its prepaid debit card program to include an additional 7,300 cards to migrant families over the next six months.
The prepaid debit card program was initially designed to support migrants staying at hotels that were converted into shelters under the city’s 28-day housing voucher program. The $53 million pilot program, which is part of a contract with Mobility Capital Finance, launched this past March, served as a possible replacement for a meal delivery program that generated significant waste and was projected to cost $5.6 million—which is more than double the price tag of the prepaid debit card program designed to supply migrant families with better food options and baby supplies at specified stores.
Accompanying the prepaid debit cards, the pilot program also is converting 14 more hotels into shelters, bringing the total of converted hotels to 17. The converted hotels can serve 1,230 migrants per month, which accounts for approximately 2% of the more than 65,000 migrants that the city’s shelter system supports.
While the program has already shown successful cost reduction, critics are concerned the pilot program will entice more migrants to the city and is another hardship on city taxpayers. Republican New York City Councilman Joseph Borelli argues that the city-funded cards are unfair to low-income New Yorkers who don’t receive similar benefits, further stating, “We’re just giving this migrant population more free stuff at the expense of New York City taxpayers.”
Yet, the city’s deputy mayor for Health and Human Services, Anne Williams-Isom, argues the pilot debit card program is a success, emphasizing that it gives asylum seekers the autonomy to make choices for themselves and their children. Williams-Isom further expressed, “They can buy from local shops, support small businesses, and manage their own resources. When we empower people, we help them achieve self-sufficiency and access the American Dream.”
Officials stated that fraud prevention measures have been successful, and the expansion of the pilot program is arriving at a time when city officials are trying to further reduce the costs of caring for migrants while still supporting them, responsibly addressing their requirements to provide food and shelter to migrants under its “right-to-shelter” law.
The pilot program’s expansion is set to provide an additional amount of prepaid debit cards to 7,300 migrant families with children who are staying at city-run shelters. These prepaid debit cards will be loaded with $12.52 per person, per day, for 28 days, according to the mayor’s chief of staff, Camille Joseph Varlack. Similar to federally funded programs like SNAP and WIC, which also use prepaid cards, the money can only be spent on food and baby supplies at specified bodegas, grocery stores, supermarkets, and convenience stores.
The debit cards have digital coding to ensure they only work at specified stores, with Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy firmly stating in a press conference this past March, “There is no free money. These are not ATM cards. You can’t take cash out,” emphasizing most conclusively that these prepaid debit cards are supporting migrant families with basic necessities for survival.
