Manhattan’s district attorney is being criticized by fellow state Democrats over migrants released without bail after attacking police officers. New York City is also getting national attention for giving migrant families debit cards with a monthly allowance.
A Jan. 27 attack on New York police officers landed seven migrants in jail temporarily. Six were released without bail following a decision by District Attorney Alvin Bragg. One migrant remains held on $15,000 bail for allegedly instigating the attack.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, D, and New York State Attorney General Letitia James, D, both criticized Bragg.
“All I can say is that under the laws of New York — the bail laws I was instrumental in changing that allow judges more discretion — certainly an assault on a police officer is bail eligible,” Hochul said. “All I know is that an assault on a police officer means you should be sitting in jail.”
“Bail should’ve been set, it was a serious felony. Why it was not set? I do not know,” James said.
When the migrants were released from custody, they flipped off camera crews as they walked free. While the migrants are ordered to be back in court on Feb. 20, police sources told CBS that four of the six migrants have already caught a bus headed to California.
The District Attorney Bragg stands by his decision as his office continues to investigate the incident.
“There’s no evidence in this case, we are investigating allegations of it,” Bragg said. “This is the beginning of the process, and we will hold those accountable who did these heinous acts.”
Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, D, is defending the decision to give debit cards with a $1,000 monthly limit to some migrants in the city.
“I know that the first brush you look at it and you’re like, ‘Wait you’re giving people cards?’ But once you dig into the numbers you’ll see it’s a small policy shift in a pilot project with 500 people,” Adams said. “If this is successful, we’ll expand it even more.”
The city is losing millions in food prepared for migrants that goes to waste. The debit card program will allegedly save $7.2 million a year by cutting down on that waste. Migrants have to sign a paper saying the debit card will only be spent on food, groceries and baby supplies.
Over 173,000 migrants have moved to New York City since the spring of 2022. The cost for the city to continue to house, feed and help migrants is expected to cost more than $12 billion through 2025.