Forget the headlines. As it turns out, New York City can be very affordable if one is an illegal immigrant. In fact, thanks to the city's policies, those who crossed the border illegally enjoy a variety of benefits and financial breathing room that is not available to the natives of Gotham.
On Monday, New York began handing out prepaid debit cards to illegal families. Five hundred families were the first recipients, and if the pilot program is deemed successful, it will be expanded. Fox News notes that the cards can only be used to purchase food and baby supplies at grocery stores, supermarkets, bodegas, and convenience stores. The migrants must sign an affidavit stating that the cards will only be used for baby supplies and food. The program has met with criticism, prompting Mayor Eric Davis to respond to what he called "disinformation:"
We found that the food delivery service that we set up during the emergency – we could find a better way to do it in our belief that we want to cut 20% of the migrant costs. So we have a pilot project with 500 people that we are giving them food cards, so instead of a debit card, instead of having to deliver food, and have people eat food — we were seeing wasting food — they’re now able to get their own food, that is going to be spent $12 a day. So we are going to save money on delivery, we’re going to save money on people wasting food, and this is a pilot project we’re going to use that is going to save us $6.7 million a year.
The residents of NYC have not taken kindly to the news since, among other things, the network pointed out that at a price tag of $53 million, if the effort is expanded, the program is more than double what the state spends on monthly services for single veterans, and surpasses the $19.8 million that is allocated by the state for cancer services. The program could also pull funds from the SNAP program for elderly New Yorkers. The $12 per person per day price tag may seem low, but Fox reported that the sum was 40% more than the average low-income American was given in SNAP benefits in 2022 for each person. That cost was $7.59. Through 2025, the city and state will spend a combined total of $15 billion on migrants. That amount includes a variety of services such as public schooling, food, shelter, counseling, ID cards, English classes, legal aid, and health care, which the city currently supplies to illegal immigrants for free.
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A documentarian by the name of Nick Shirley recently caught up with a migrant to see just what the city has provided him and his family thus far:
In New York City migrants were already receiving free rent, free food and now are receiving FREE LAWYERS, FREE MEDICARE, and FREE FLIGHTS.
— Nick shirley (@nickshirleyy) March 23, 2024
This is insane and unfair to US citizens. pic.twitter.com/Og8TMkW6hW
Did you catch the part about the man taking his family to Phoenix (with free airfare) because New York City has collapsed? Obviously, the city's sanctuary city policies are not the only reason why NYC is circling the drain, but they are certainly part of the problem and are a symptom of the progressive mindset, which is even starting to irk some of the local Democrats. According to American Wire, Democrat NYC councilmember Robert Holden told the New York Post, “The endless handouts to the entire world are a slap in the face to every citizen who has contributed to and sacrificed for this country. It’s time to end this madness.”
Despite the U.S. Government's proclivity for printing money, these sorts of things are not funded in a vacuum. To meet so many hefty tabs, the city and the state will need to hike taxes, find "non-essential" services to cut, or take money away from other services upon which the people of the city and state depend. All of this raises the question of for whom the state and city officials are working. Because it certainly is not the people of New York.
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