The migrant story now has a debit card chapter.  I thought that the story was a joke when it came across the internet; it wasn’t.  It’s true, as we read in this story:

The pilot program is being rolled out at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, with 500 families involved, The New York Post reported. A family of four will get a card loaded with $1,000-a-month, equivalent to $35 a day.

Those selected will be given cards that can be only used at bodegas, supermarkets and delis. Migrants must sign an affidavit promising to only use the cards for food and baby supplies, or else have them cut off. It is unclear how the City of New York will know if they’re just being used in bodegas as intended.

The amount on each card will depend on individual circumstances. It is unclear how city officials will check if cards are being abused - and if the scheme will worsen the crisis by encouraging other migrants to head to the Big Apple in the hopes of receiving free money.

A family of four could be provided nearly $1,000 each month, which is $35 per day for food for the four.

At present, each migrant meal costs $11, so feeding a family of four for a day could cost up to $132.

Cards will get refilled every 28 days.

Every 28 days?  That’s a short month.  The people in the Mayor’s office sure are generous with our dollars.

As my friend in New York pointed out, citizens are already paying a lot of taxes, fees, tolls, etc.  It’s only a matter of time, he said with a sarcastic laugh, that they will tax you for breathing or going to the bathroom.  (Don’t give the City Council any ideas!)

Not long ago, and speaking to the financial woes of the city, the same Mayor Adams leading the debit card debacle announced billions in cuts, “prompted by $10.8 billion in migrant-related costs in this and the next fiscal year.” Yet, even with the planned budget cuts, “New York City faces budget shortfalls of $7 billion in fiscal 2025 and more than $6 billion in both 2026 and 2027.”

So who is looking out for the overtaxed New Yorkers who have to fill their own prepaid debit cards?  I guess that no one is, as far as I can tell.

Furthermore, isn’t this going to encourage more migrants to take the New York-bound bus?  I think so, and most New Yorkers understand that.

P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.

Image: Free image, Pixabay license, no attribution required.