NYC ending controversial debit card program for migrants

NEW YORK — New York City will end its controversial debit card program for migrants.

Under the pilot program, migrants staying in city-funded hotels received pre-paid cards to buy their own food and other necessities. The city spent $3.6 million on debit cards for about 2,600 migrant families who are staying in shelters without kitchen access.

In a statement Thursday, a City Hall spokesperson said:

“Through the immediate response cards pilot program, we were able to reduce food waste, redirect millions of dollars to our local economy, and provide more culturally relevant food to more than 2,600 migrant families in our care. As we move towards more competitive contracting for asylum seeker programs, we have chosen not to renew the emergency contract for this pilot program once the one-year term concludes. For over two years, we have provided care to more than 222,000 migrants while saving $2 billion in asylum seeker-related costs. Thanks to our resettlement efforts, intensive case management, and national-leading Asylum Application Help Center, more than 160,000 migrants have left our shelter system and taken their next steps towards self-sufficiency. We will continue to implement and learn from innovative pilot programs like the immediate response cards program as we care for hundreds of new arrivals every week.”

The migrant families enrolled in the program will continue to receive debit cards through the end of the year.

Mayor Eric Adams’ office says when the program is over, they will go back to providing boxed meals for those migrants.

“I am worried about these families ’cause we’re gonna go right back to where we were in the beginning when families used to come to me and say, ‘I’m getting frozen meals at the shelters, I’m getting these boxed meals with just crackers and sandwiches, and this is all I’m getting,'” migrant advocate Power Malu said.

The debit cards were provided by the company Mobility Capital Finance through a no-bid contract.

Ali Bauman

Ali Bauman joined CBS News New York as a general assignment reporter in 2016. Ali is a proud millennial who embraces social media for storytelling to bring news to a new generation of viewers.