New York City To Roll Out Controversial Pilot Program For Migrants To Buy Food Using Prepaid Cards

According to NYC officials, the program is estimated to save the city $7.2 million a year.

New York City is rolling out a pilot program to give migrants prepaid debit cards to be used exclusively at bodegas, supermarkets, grocery stores, and convenience stores. As CBS News reports, the program is estimated to save the city $7.2 million annually through a partnership with Mobility Capital Finance.

Wole Coaxum, CEO of Mobility Capital Finance, released a statement detailing the program’s aims. “MoCaFi’s goal is to expand access to financial resources for individuals excluded from banking, such as asylum seekers while helping the local economy. It is an honor to be a part of the effort to welcome and support asylum seekers as they begin to plant their roots in this country.”

The program, which will be open to 500 families initially, is, according to City Hall, a “more cost-effective technology pilot program to distribute pre-paid immediate response cards to asylum seekers to purchase food and baby supplies in lieu of the city’s current system of providing non-perishable food boxes to migrant families staying in hotels.”

If the program is successful, Fox 5 NY reports, the program will be expanded to more families. However, not everyone is on board. New York City councilman Joe Borelli accused the program of giving migrants a free ride, saying, “We’re just giving this migrant population more free stuff at the expense of New York City taxpayers.”

In essence, the program is no different than an EBT card. Though the price tag is $53 million, that price tag is cheaper than the boxed meal system that the city currently employs to assist migrants, who were largely bused to the city on the order of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The city is also currently experiencing a high demand for food, and according to Fox 5, there are reports of food being wasted at various shelters in New York, as well as questions about the quality of the food served.

Immigration advocate Power Malu is critical of the program for a different reason: He doesn’t believe it is practical for migrants to purchase food they can’t cook. “Purchasing food at the supermarket is not cheap anymore, and on top of that, they don’t have kitchens, so how are they going to purchase the food that they want?”

However, the Mayor’s office released a statement affirming that the program is a continuation of the city’s management of the crisis, “New York City has led the nation in managing this national humanitarian crisis, providing compassion and care to more than 173,000 migrants who have come through our intake system asking for shelter since the spring of 2022.” The statement continues, “A large part of our success is due to our constant work to find new ways to better serve the hundreds of individuals and families arriving every single day, as well as the longtime New Yorkers already in our care.”