Gov. Hochul Secretly Gives Illegal Aliens Cash Under Rule Change

Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is handing out billions of taxpayer dollars in cash to thousands of illegal immigrants living in the state. Unfortunately, this is being done without taxpayers’ knowledge.

To provide cash for illegal immigrants without many people noticing, the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) modified its eligibility rules for its Safety Net Assistance Program (SNA) last May. They now include non-citizens who have pending applications for legal asylum status, the New York Post reported.

SNA is a program designed to give cash assistance to any eligible individuals and families in need who do not qualify for any other type of welfare. It includes single adults, childless couples, children who do not live with adult relatives and families of drug or alcohol abusers, according to Breitbart News.

“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.”

While OTDA refused to disclose how many illegal immigrants benefited from the cash program, it estimated that 90% will not see additional benefits under the eligibility change.
Of course, this policy does not sit well with Republicans.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) called out Hochul for giving out handouts to attract illegal immigrants to the state while “putting the squeeze” on lower and middle-class New Yorkers who cannot afford to have their hard-earned money going to illegal immigrants.

“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,” Malliotakis said. “[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.”

Hochul has Democrats fuming as well with her policies. City Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens) called the handouts a “slap in the face to every citizen who has contributed to and sacrificed for this country.”

At this point, New York state is hemorrhaging money. Two weeks ago, Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams asked Hochul to provide an additional $1.6 billion to cover the rising costs of taking care of the city’s illegal immigrant population.

On top of that, Adams has to also assist its legal residents who are struggling to get by. According to the New York Post, 720,765 citizens needed cash assistance last year.

Instead of blaming her leftist policies, Hochul decided to blame conservatives for the amount of money being paid to take care of New York State’s illegal immigrant population.

“There’s no secret here,” said Hochul spokesman Avi Small. “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.”