New York City Mayor Eric Adams is set to end a controversial pilot program that provided migrants being housed in city shelters with prepaid debit cards, ABC7 reported.
Preloaded Mastercards were given out at the city’s intake center at the Roosevelt Hotel to cover the cost of groceries and baby supplies, with a migrant family of four receiving approximately $350 a week under the initiative.
According to the New York Post, New Jersey-based startup Mobility Capital Finance was awarded a $53 million, one-year contract that sparked criticism when the City of New York bypassed the usual bidding process.
With the year nearly up, the Adams administration reportedly opted not to renew the agreement.
“As we move towards more competitive contracting for asylum seeker programs, we have chosen not to renew the emergency contract for this pilot program once the one-year term concludes,” Adams’ office said in a statement to ABC7.
The mayor did not provide a specific reason for ending the program.
Rolled out in late March after signing the contract in January, the Post reported that the city has distributed some $3.2 million in prepaid debit cards to about 2,600 migrant families.
While it has repeatedly come under attack as a drain on city resources, the program was intended to trim costs and cut down on food waste by no longer buying the foods the migrants did not want to eat. City officials estimated that the debit card program cost half as much as the boxed-meal delivery service.
The Post reported that the Adams administration said it awarded the emergency contract to avoid delays in launching the program.
City Comptroller Brad Lander has since revoked the city’s ability to make emergency deals for migrant services.
Citing city estimates, ABC7 reported for the 700 migrants entering New York City each week, 1,000 leave during the same time period.
At a New York City Hall press conference on Wednesday, Adams vowed to work with President-elect Donald Trump to address the migrant crisis, while simultaneously stressing that the city will remain a sanctuary city.
Trump has pledged to conduct mass deportations to eject the millions of migrants in the United States illegally.
"New York City will always remain a city of immigrants and the beacon of liberty around the globe," Adams said. "We will work with the new administration and Congress to develop a realistic and compassionate national strategy for our immigration system."