NYC ends taxpayer-funded prepaid debit card program for illegal immigrants

New York City is ending a program that provided prepaid debit cards to migrant families living in the sanctuary city.

In a statement obtained by FOX 5 New York, Adams announced the end of the immediate response card pilot program.

“Through the Emergency Card Pilot Program, we have been able to reduce food waste, divert millions of dollars into our local economy, and provide more culturally relevant food to more than 2,600 migrant families in our care,” Adams said. “As we move towards more competitive contracting for asylum seeker programs, we have decided not to extend the emergency contract for this pilot program after the one-year term has expired.”

New York City officials began distributing prepaid debit cards to migrant families in the Big Apple earlier this year. The prepaid cards — the first of which were distributed in March as part of the city’s Immediate Response Cards (IRC) program — are intended only for purchasing essential items such as groceries.

The mayor’s office previously said access to the program would be limited to those participating in a separate program that provides four-week hotel stays for families with children and families expecting children.

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The benefits for illegal immigrants staying in the city will be distributed weekly until the end of their four-week hotel stay, with families of four with two children under five receiving up to nearly $350 a week.

Officials said the program would save the city about $600,000 a month and $7.2 million a year.

New York City, which has been flooded with more than 200,000 arriving migrants since 2022, has since offered settlement opportunities to migrants. A re-ticketing center was opened last year to offer one-way airline tickets to migrants.

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Migrants stand in front of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, which was converted into a city-run shelter in 2023. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Late last month, Fox News confirmed that 4,500 migrants were sent back to Texas on bus or plane tickets purchased by the city, which was first reported by Bloomberg News.

According to Mayor Eric Adams’ office, the top five destinations for migrants leaving the Big Apple are Texas, Illinois, Florida, New York State and Colorado.

In total, more than 47,000 tickets were issued and about 4,500 went to Texas. It was not clear how many of these migrants came from buses sent from Texas to NYC.

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing migrants to New York City and other sanctuary cities in 2022, in what he said was an attempt to ease pressure on overwhelmed border communities.

Abbott said he chose sanctuary cities — cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities — because he believes they facilitate the crisis.

Fox News Digital’s Kyle Morris, Adam Shaw and Brooke Taylor contributed to this report.