Democratic councilman blasts Hochul’s ‘endless handouts’ as New York enrolls thousands of migrants on welfare

Democratic New York City Councilman Robert Holden blasted Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D-NY) “endless handouts” to migrants as the state enrolls thousands of migrants on welfare.

Holden, who represents Queens on the city council, said it was time to “end this madness” of rolling out benefits for migrants who came into the country illegally while homeless and low-income New Yorkers still suffer.

New York City Council member Robert Holden speaks during a House Judiciary Committee Field Hearing, Monday, April 17, 2023, in New York. Republicans upset with former President Donald Trump’s indictment are escalating their war on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who charged him, trying to embarrass him on his home turf. The committee’s field hearing near Bragg’s offices was billed as an examination of the Democrat’s “pro-crime, anti-victim” policies. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

“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,” Holden told the New York Post. “It’s time to end this madness.”

The comment comes after the state’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance modified its “Safety Net Assistance” program’s eligibility rules to include non-citizens with pending applications for legal asylum status. The program allows the state to use taxpayer dollars to give cash payments to asylum-seekers who don’t qualify for traditional assistance.

It is not clear how many migrants are enrolled in the program, but the OTDA estimates that 90% of migrants do not qualify for additional assistance. However, even 10% of the migrants are approximately 17,000 people because New York City has seen more than 173,000 asylum-seekers flood the city’s system from the United States’s southern border since the spring of 2022. More than 66,000 migrants are still in the city’s care.

ODTA spokesman Anthony Farmer claimed the SNA payments to migrants are only a “small portion” of the $4.3 billion Hochul set aside to handle the migrant crisis.

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“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,” Farmer said.

The state normally uses the SNA funds on New Yorkers who don’t qualify for conventional public assistance, such as single adults, childless couples, and families of persons abusing alcohol and drugs.