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New York City’s Department of Homeless Services has given 150 illegal immigrant families with up to $4,000 each to leave the city’s shelter system and move into permanent housing.

According to a Gothamist report, the grants are part of an unpublicized pilot program called Asylee Moveout Assistance. The funds were allocated to asylum-seeking families and pregnant women who were living at 62 emergency Department of Homeless Services shelters and were able to secure permanent housing. The grant funds can be used to pay for moving expenses, security deposits, first and last month’s rent, and other household supplies. Recipients are provided with up to $1,000 gift cards for necessary household items, and moving companies, landlords and other merchants are paid directly by the program.

The grants are paid for with leftover funds from existing budgeted Department of Homeless Services contracts with nonprofit shelter operators, who also run the grant program

The program quietly began in December and is based on a similar city grant program to help residents in city shelters to help pay for moving costs. However, federal and state laws prevented some asylum-seekers from participating in that program.

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“The city continues to use every tool at its disposal to implement innovative solutions while creating fundamental resettlement supports for recently arrived asylum-seekers who may not be eligible for most federal and state-funded rehousing assistance,” said Neha Sharma, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeless Services. “We look forward to supporting more households as we assess the successes of the pilot and feasibility of scaling up and expanding access to this form of assistance.”

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