OAN’s Abril Elfi
10:25 AM – Saturday, February 3, 2024
New York City will be launching a $53 million program to offer migrants pre-paid credit cards.
According to reports, the goal of the Mobility Capital Finance and Mayor Eric Adams’ (D-N.Y.) office initiative is to help immigrants with their food costs while they wait for federal authorization to work.
Only bodegas, grocery stores, supermarkets, and convenience stores accept the cards.
In order to avoid being kicked out of the program, recipients must sign an affidavit promising to use the money only for food and baby supplies. Various amounts will be loaded onto cards based on the size of the family and their income.
A family of four could get $35 per day or $1,000 per month and refills for cards will be made every 28 days.
Mobility Capital Finance CEO Wole Coaxum released a statement regarding their partnership with New York City.
“MoCaFi looks forward to partnering with New York City to disburse funds for asylum seekers to purchase fresh, hot food,” Coaxum said. “MoCaFi’s goal is to expand access to financial resources for individuals excluded from banking, such as asylum seekers, while helping the local economy.”
Although the city will initially only be providing cards to 500 people, it may soon extend the program to include the estimated 15,000 migrants who call the city home.
Mayor Adams spokesperson Kayla Mamelak said that the cards will help provide families with food and baby supplies.
“Not only will this provide families with the ability to purchase fresh food for their culturally relevant diets and the baby supplies of their choosing, but the pilot program is expected to save New York City more than $600,000 per month, or more than $7.2 million annually,” Mamelak said.
The pre-paid card initiative was announced just one day after The Post disclosed an additional $137 million in agreements with city hotels to accommodate over 750 rooms for families seeking asylum.
With the arrival of 1,500 more asylum seekers last week, the city is now housing slightly over 66,000 people in response to a crisis that is projected to cost $10 billion by 2025.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts