Democratic New York Mayor Eric Adams’ office announced Thursday that New York City would stop providing food stamps to migrants, CBS News New York reported.

New York to phase out city-funded program that gives prepaid debit cards to migrant families hotels to buy their own meals and basic necessities, according to at CBS News New York. The program will provide migrant families with debit cards until the end of the year. After that, the city will deliver food directly to migrants.

“As we move toward more competitive contracts for asylum seeker programs, we have chosen not to renew the emergency contract for this pilot program once the one-year term ends. For more than two years, we have provided care to more than 222,000 migrants while saving $2 billion in asylum seeker-related costs,” Adams said in a statement. “We will continue to implement and learn from innovative pilot programs, like the Immediate Response Card program, as we serve hundreds of new arrivals each week. »

This news follows a discussion between Adams and President-elect Donald Trump, during which Adams revealed during a press conference that they had spoken the day before about a partnership on infrastructure, public safety and Other vital issues facing New York City, Politico. reported.

.@NeilPatelTDC: Tuesday night’s results were definitive enough that there was reason to hope that we had just closed one of the worst chapters in American history. The political lesson of the Trump era has been evident since he took the escalator. pic.twitter.com/trlfYfYylt

– Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 6, 2024

“I communicated with the president yesterday to say that there are many issues here in the city that we want to work with the administration on,” Adams said. “The city must move forward, and that’s what we’re calling for.” »

Although critics called the initiative expensive, it was originally designed to cut costs by eliminating pre-prepared meals, according to Eyewitness News. reported. By the city’s calculations, the voucher system was about half as expensive as the old boxed meal delivery approach.

Since its inception in late March, the city has distributed prepaid debit cards totaling $3.2 million to about 2,600 migrant families, Eyewitness said. Each card, distributed through the Roosevelt Hotel Welcome Center, provided a family of four with approximately $350 per week to make local purchases.

Trump proposed a mass deportation plan Thursday and told NBC News that “there’s no price tag” on his plan. He has pledged to launch an aggressive immigration enforcement campaign on his first day in office, focusing on deporting illegal residents with criminal records.

(Featured image media credit: YouTube screenshot. NYC Mayor’s Office)