NYC councilwoman slams mayor Eric Adams' $53M migrant debit card plan as 'clear incentive' that will open floodgates 'for an INVASION'
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Vickie Paladino, who represents District 19 of Northeast Queens, said she had heard from migrants herself that they are flocking to the city for free money
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New debit cards for migrants are preloaded with a week's worth of funds and will be rolled out to 115 families
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The debit cards can only be used at supermarkets and bodegas. A family of four with two children could receive up to $350 per week
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13252775/NYC-councilwoman-slams-mayor-Eric-Adams-53M-migrant-debit-card-plan-clear-incentive-open-floodgates-INVASION.html
A NYC council member has slammed Mayor Eric Adams' scheme to hand out debit cards to asylum seekers, saying it offers a 'clear incentive' for migrants to move to the city. Vickie Paladino, who represents District 19 of Northeast Queens, said she had heard from migrants herself that they are flocking to the city for free money.
The cards are preloaded with a week's worth of funds and will be rolled out to 115 families, equivalent to 450 people by the end of this week. Mayor Eric Adams is pressing ahead with the $53 million scheme, despite a furious backlash amid fears the cards are open to abuse.
Speaking to Fox News, Paladino said: 'Regardless of our rhetoric about how ‘full’ the city has become, if we’re handing out free money it’s a clear incentive.' She continued: 'We hear it from many of the migrants themselves — they’re coming here because they know New York will give them welfare.
'It's as simple as that. And that is absolutely the opposite message we should be sending now.
'In districts like mine, which spans both low-income working-class neighborhoods to some of the wealthiest communities in NYC, migrant crime is a top concern for everyone. 'We’re seeing a massive increase in crimes attributable to migrants. It’s becoming absolutely third-world." 'It assumes that we’re somehow obligated to provide illegals with welfare to begin with. We are not.'
Adams has admitted that despite his program, the city cannot take on any more migrants, saying there 'is no room' for migrants as far back as last July.
The new program goes against that, according to Paladino, saying that even migrants already here will face the consequences of more arrivals. Paladino added: 'This is untraceable free money being handed out to people who don’t belong here in the first place. 'It’s madness. It’s going to create a black market and all kinds of negative incentive structures.'