The Democrat-controlled state of New York has been quietly handing out cash payments to thousands of migrants under a rule change qualifying non-citizens for welfare.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) modified its Safety Net Assistance (SNA) program’s parameters in 2023, making migrants who have filled out asylum application forms eligible to receive even more taxpayer dollars.
A memo quietly sent out to New York welfare office workers from the Hochul administration on May 12, 2023, carefully revised the standards needed to qualify for SNA, expanding them to include “non-citizens who are considered permanently residing under color of law (PRUCOL).”
“PRUCOL is not an immigration status, but a public benefit category used by OTDA for the purposes of Safety Net Assistance (SNA) eligibility,” the memo reads, before listing the several different kinds of immigration documentation SNA providers should accept from migrants.
SNA is a program that provides cash assistance to eligible needy individuals and families who do not typically qualify for other forms of welfare, including single adults, childless couples, children who do not live with adult relatives, and families of drug or alcohol abusers.
“Generally, you can receive cash SNA for a maximum of two years in a lifetime,” OTDA said. “After that, if you are eligible for SNA, it is provided in non-cash form, such as a payment made directly to your landlord or voucher sent directly to your utility company.”
It is believed that about ten percent of New York’s migrants will receive (or are already receiving) the additional cash benefits from SNA; however, the OTDA did not release actual numbers of migrants affected by the rule change, the New York Post reported.
Over 173,000 migrants have poured into New York City alone since the spring of 2022, so it is possible that more than 17,000 could be receiving SNA benefits just in the city.
According to ODTA spokesman Anthony Farmer, the SNA migrant payments are only a “small portion” of the $4.3 billion in taxpayer funds already earmarked by Hochul for dealing with the migrant crisis “in the absence of new federal aid.”
“At the request of New York City, OTDA made a technical update to allow a small percentage of migrants to receive certain additional support in compliance with state and federal law,” he said.
The welfare expansion has been lambasted by both Republicans and Democrats.
According to Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), it’s “horrible that Gov. Hochul found another way to attract migrants” to the state while “putting the squeeze” on middle- and lower-income New Yorkers who don’t want their tax dollars going to this.
“You have people from all over the world coming to New York to take advantage of all these left-wing programs the governor, the mayor are implementing, while at the same time, they’re clobbering taxpayers over the head,” she told the Post. “[Safety Net Assistance] is a program that’s supposed to be for New Yorkers who temporarily need it to get through a difficult time in their lives.”
City Councilman Robert Holden (D) agreed, saying, “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,” he added.
Hochul spokesman Avi Small blamed the migrant crisis on Republicans.
“There’s no secret here,” he said. “Because the MAGA right killed a bipartisan deal that would have allowed President Biden to shut down the border, New York State will be forced to shoulder this burden alone and spend additional taxpayer funds on the migrant crisis.”
The revelation of this drastic rule change comes after NYC Mayor Eric Adams came under fire earlier this month for his plan to distribute $53 million to migrants in the form of pre-paid credit cards.
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