New York City mayor Eric Adams has ended a controversial scheme in which the city’s migrants would be given vouchers in order to pay for food.
The scheme, launched in March 2024, provided non-citizens with pre-paid debit cards to purchase food. Since the program was launched, the city has provided more than $3.2 million in debit cards for more than 2,600 migrant families living in hotels.
Mayor Adams’ office said the “pilot program” would not be renewed following its one-year trial, with the city moving towards “more competitive contracting for asylum seeker programs.”
The decision comes in the wake of Donald Trump’s overwhelming victory in the 2024 Presidential Election. Adams, like Trump, has been criminally investigated by the federal government. When they were filed in Sept. 2024, Adams blamed the charges, which include bribery, conspiracy, fraud and two counts of soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations, on his opposition to the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the border crisis.
Many on social media noted how the announcement came shortly after Trump’s resounding victory earlier this week.
Others believed that Adams may seek to form an alliance with the President-elect who is a New York native.
