Immigration
NYC Mayor Adams Defends Controversial $53M Prepaid Card Program for Migrant Families
New York City Mayor Eric Adams faced scrutiny after it was revealed that he approved a reported $53 million pilot program to distribute prepaid credit cards to migrant families housed in hotels. Defending the initiative during a state legislative budget hearing in Albany, Mayor Adams claimed the program has cost-saving measures.
Adams attempted to quell the uproar by clarifying that the program would be giving out prepaid food cards, not American Express credit cards. The rationale behind this initiative is to improve food distribution efficiency and reduce wastage, he said, claiming it would ultimately cut costs by 20% in migrant support expenses. The mayor highlighted that the pilot project, involving 500 individuals, is expected to save approximately $6.7 million annually.
The prepaid cards, valued at about $350 per month per migrant, aim to empower recipients to purchase their own food and baby supplies. This allocation surpasses the assistance provided to low-income New Yorkers under SNAP benefits, with migrants receiving 40% more than what the state offers to its residents in need. Additionally, the program’s funding exceeds monthly services for single veterans in the state, reports Fox News.
Mayor Adams’s defense of the program coincided with the annual “Tin Cup Day,” where mayors present budgetary requests to the state legislature. Highlighting the exponential increase in the city’s shelter population since taking office, Adams appealed for greater state support, urging the state to cover 50% of the costs associated with addressing the migrant crisis in NYC.
The magnitude of the migrant crisis in New York City is substantial, with projected expenditures exceeding $10.6 billion by summer 2025. While the state has pledged approximately $2 billion to mitigate the crisis in the current budget cycle, Mayor Adams emphasized that this commitment falls short, covering only one-third of the city’s expenses related to supporting migrants.
Critics have raised concerns about the program’s generosity compared to existing assistance programs for vulnerable populations within the city and state. The Senate border funding bill released Sunday night allocates $1.4 billion in funding for nonprofit organizations helping migrants who enter the country illegally.
Page 67 of the 370-page bill contains a provision that states that “$1,400,000,000 shall be transferred to ‘Federal Emergency Management Agency–Federal Assistance’ to support sheltering and related activities provided by non-Federal entities through the Shelter Services Program.” The Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024 allocates $118 billion in total, including $48 billion to aid Ukraine during its war against Russia and nearly $16 billion to aid Israel during its conflict with Hamas until Dec. 31.
In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the federal government’s authority to deport foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally. The decision came after objections from local jurisdictions, and therefore reaffirms federal immigration enforcement capabilities, and deals a blow to sanctuary policies aimed at obstructing deportations.
The case centered on a 2019 executive order issued by King County Executive Dow Constantine, which barred the use of King County International Airport, near Seattle, for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation charter flights. The airport is adjacent to a major ICE operational base in Seattle, writes The Center Square.
Constantine’s order sought to prevent airport services from supporting ICE deportation flights, citing concerns about family separations, racial disparities in enforcement, and other human rights issues. The federal government, under the Trump administration, sued, arguing that the order violated the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, the intergovernmental immunity doctrine, and a WWII-era Instrument of Transfer agreement allowing federal use of the airport.
A district court ruled in favor of the federal government, and King County appealed. Writing for the Ninth Circuit, Judge Daniel Bress, joined by Judges Michael Hawkins and Richard Clinton, affirmed the lower court’s decision.
The panel ruled that Constantine’s order improperly targeted the federal government and its contractors, violating the intergovernmental immunity doctrine by “singling out the federal government and its contractors for unfavorable treatment.” The court further found that the order increased ICE’s operational costs and created imminent risks of further injury, thereby giving the federal government standing to sue.
Additionally, the judges upheld the claim that the order violated the Instrument of Transfer under the Surplus Property Act of 1944, which explicitly allows federal use of the airport.
Constantine defended the order as consistent with King County’s commitment to inclusivity and human rights. He argued that deportations conflict with the region’s values, including protecting families and promoting equity. However, the Ninth Circuit held that such ideological arguments could not override federal law and constitutional principles.
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