Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell and other attorneys general are crying foul on federal changes to food benefits for immigrants, specifically those that have gone through extensive background checks and vetting to be in this country.
They say the changes will prevent thousands of immigrants who are applying or reapplying to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from getting help.
“The unlawful actions by the USDA and the confusion they have caused will, in many ways, take away food resources for folks in our immigrant communities because of their misinformation on who is eligible,” Campbell said in a phone interview.
Campbell and 20 other attorneys general sent a letter Wednesday, asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to clarify its Oct. 31 guidance that set new restrictions on non-citizens’ eligibility for SNAP. The restrictions went into effect on Nov. 1.
Under federal law, refugees and individuals granted asylum or humanitarian parole become eligible for SNAP as soon as they obtain lawful permanent residence status, or a green card. These immigrant groups were also allowed to bypass the typical five-year wait period to become eligible for SNAP.
But the agency now says those groups of immigrants are categorically “not eligible” for the benefit.
“That is blatantly wrong. They are eligible,” Campbell said.
The agency is also required to give a 120-day grace period to states as they adjust and respond to changes, which didn’t happen — the changes went into effect within 24 hours.
The coalition of attorneys general is demanding the USDA clarify that those groups may qualify for SNAP once they become lawful permanent residents; accurately list the humanitarian groups exempt from a five-year waiting period for the benefits; and provide a lawful explanation of how the five-year rule works. They also demand that USDA recognize the 120-day grace period.
In Massachusetts, approximately 9,500 legally present immigrants could lose all or some of their benefits, according to the state.
“The people we’re talking about are people who have a well-founded fear of persecution, who are the most highly vetted immigrants to either enter the country as refugees or be granted political asylum,” said Patricia Baker, senior policy advocate at Mass Law Reform Institute. “They were victims of human trafficking, including sex trafficking, often at the hands of U.S. citizens or battered at the hands of U.S. citizens. They’re now being denied basic food benefits.”
Leran Minc, the director of public policy at Project Bread, said it’s also possible the change will affect more than the 9,500 in the initial estimate.
“We don’t know how a lot of this rolls out,” he said. “And this is also something that will impact anybody who will potentially apply in the future. So we know the impact is larger than just the current caseload.”
Project Bread screens people for SNAP with multilingual counselors and translation services.
Minc said for mixed-status families, it’s possible the U.S. citizen children of immigrants could still receive benefits. However, the income earned by anyone in the household can be counted in determining their eligibility and benefit amount. Even if the adult is cut off from getting SNAP, in reality, multiple members of the family have to split a reduced benefit.
“In other words, some households will continue receiving SNAP only for their citizen children, leaving adults without support and resulting in benefits as low as $1.56 per person per day,” Minc said.
The restrictions on immigrants are part of the Trump administration’s larger attempt to limit the number of people getting food assistance in the country. They are also proposing a change that would require every SNAP recipient to re-apply for benefits rather than re-certifying.
“Business as usual is over, the status quo is no more,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said during an interview on Fox News. She didn’t provide further details about what that meant, other than that the move is in response to fraud.
