NYC Mayor Eric Adams Defends $53 Million 'Cash For Migrants' Program

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has defended a controversial $53 million 'cash for migrants' program that drew fire from many - including rapper 50 Cent.

Adams 'clarified' that the taxpayer funds will be in the form of prepaid food cards, not American Express  credit cards - which he says will improve the efficiency of food distribution and reduce waste (somehow). Adams claims that it will ultimately cut costs by 20%, vs. say, not handing money to people in the country illegally.

And 50 Cent bought it - posting on social media that he and Adams had spoken, and that the Mayor "appeared to be on point, and on top of things."

The prepaid cards will be around $350 per migrant, per month - about 40% more than New York's SNAP recipients receive. 

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. -Sara Carter

Over 173,000 migrants have been through NYC's migrant intake system since the spring of 2022, according to Adams' office.