New York Migrants Get More Money for Food Than Republican's Employee

New York City Republican Councilwoman Vickie Paladino claimed on Sunday that migrants in the state are receiving more money for food than one of her employees.

While appearing on CBS New York's The Point with Marcia Kramer, Paladino spoke about a new program to provide migrants in the city with prepaid debit cards. The New York Times reported that the cards will be loaded with around $350 for a family of four.

When asked about the debit cards, Paladino said, "I got a woman who works in my office, single mom, two kids. She doesn't even have $350 a week to spend on food, period."

The Context:

In February, the Associated Press reported that a spokesperson for New York City Mayor Eric Adams confirmed that officials were launching a pilot program to provide prepaid debit cards to migrants in the city. The spokesperson told the AP that the cards would be used for food and baby supplies, and the goal is to cut costs for migrants living in the city.

"There is no free money. These are not ATM cards. You can't take cash out," New York City Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabien Levy said last week.

What We Know:

Many Republicans have repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden's handling of migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

In response, Republican governors like Greg Abbott of Texas, have transported illegal migrants to Democratic-led states like New York. In January, Abbott's office announced that it has bussed "over 37,100 migrants to New York City since August 2022."

Adams filed a lawsuit in January against the bus companies that helped Texas transport the migrants to New York.

"New York City has and will always do our part to manage this humanitarian crisis, but we cannot bear the costs of reckless political ploys from the state of Texas alone," Adams said. "Today, we are taking legal action against 17 companies that have taken part in Texas Governor Abbott's scheme to transport tens of thousands of migrants to New York City in an attempt to overwhelm our social services system."

In response to the lawsuit, Abbott said that "if the Mayor is really trying to cut down on the number of illegal immigrants coming into New York, he needs to be suing Joe Biden—not these bus companies."

Newsweek reached out to Adams' press office via email for comment.

Views:

While speaking with Fox News Digital last week, Paladino further criticized the prepaid debit cards saying, "We hear it from many of the migrants themselves—they're coming here because they know New York will give them welfare. It's as simple as that. And that is absolutely the opposite message we should be sending now."

During a recent press conference to discuss the prepaid debit card program, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom said, "We can take a look at it after six weeks and see what's working and what's not."

What's Next?

According to the Times, the cards will be handed out to migrant families at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan.

Officials in New York said that the card program will be monitored and possibly expanded to more families in the future, the newspaper reported.

Update, 4/1/24, 9:03 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with further information.

Update, 4/1/24, 9:38 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with further information.

Update, 4/1/24, 10:33 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with further information.