NYC to roll out $53 million prepaid card program for migrant families

The amount allocated to each prepaid debit card would be contingent on the family's size and any existing income they might have.

New York City is set to introduce a program offering prepaid cards to migrants for food and supplies, marking the latest initiative to address the migrant crisis.

Mayor Eric Adams is launching a pilot program that would give 500 migrant families with children, and who are currently residing in hotels leased by the city to accommodate asylum-seekers, prepaid debit cards to buy food and baby supplies.

The pilot program will cost the city $53 million, but the mayor's office claims it would save the city hundreds of thousands of dollars per month.

According to the mayor's strategy, the program, which is run by the New Jersey company Mobility Capital Finance, aims to substitute the existing practice of providing migrants in shelters with non-perishable food boxes.

Instead, the plan proposes issuing prepaid debit cards to enable individuals to purchase food and essential supplies.