SNAP Access and Participation in U.S.-Born and Immigrant Households: A Data Profile
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Highlights
Post-1996 federal welfare rules bar many lawfully present immigrants from SNAP. In 2019, many of the 13 million people in low-income immigrant households faced limited or no access to food assistance.
- In 2019, 13 million people lived in low-income immigrant households: 6.6 million in fully SNAP-eligible households, 5.2 million in mixed-eligibility households receiving prorated benefits, and 1.2 million fully excluded due to immigration status.
- Children in mixed-eligibility households face a double disadvantage, as a parent’s ineligible status reduces the household’s benefit amount; about 2.5 million children lived in such households in 2019.
- Restoring pre-1996 SNAP eligibility to lawfully present immigrants would have moved roughly 1.16 million people into fully eligible households in 2019, including 282,000 children and 374,000 recent green-card holders.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—often called food stamps—was developed by the U.S. government to address food security in the nation’s low-income families. SNAP participation has been shown to have important health and developmental benefits for children and adults, and it plays a role in mitigating food insecurity and related health-care costs for the communities in which they live. Yet, a significant number of lawfully present immigrant adults and children are unable to access SNAP due to their immigration status.
This issue brief examines the size and characteristics of the population of immigrants who have incomes low enough to qualify for SNAP, and their eligibility for benefits, as determined by their immigration status. It provides estimates at both the national and state level for individuals in poor U.S.-born households and in poor immigrant households where all members are eligible, ineligible, or have mixed eligibility based on immigration status. The brief then takes a closer look at eligibility and participation in households with children. To estimate the impacts of federal restrictions on immigrants’ eligibility for federally funded SNAP, the brief also explores how many would have been eligible if not for the 1996 change in law that made many lawfully present noncitizens ineligible.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Restrictions on Immigrants’ SNAP Eligibility and Participation
3 Income Eligibility Rules and SNAP Benefits
State Discretion: Flexible Requirements and State-Funded Programs for Federally Ineligible Immigrants
4 Poor Immigrant Households’ Eligibility and Participation
A. State-by-State Estimates of Poor Immigrant Households’ SNAP Eligibility
B. SNAP Participation of Poor Immigrant Households
C. State-by-State Participation Rates
5 Profile and SNAP Participation of Children in Poor Households
A. National and State Trends
B. SNAP Participation by Race and Ethnicity
6 Gauging the Impact of Federal Restrictions on Lawfully Present Immigrants’ SNAP Eligibility
7 Conclusion
About the Human Services Initiative
The Initiative produced work focusing on U.S. federal, state, and local policies on immigration issues affecting children, families, and health and human services.
About the U.S. Immigration Policy Program
The U.S. Immigration Policy Program provides analysis of U.S. immigration pathways, the impacts of enforcement and other policies, and the characteristics of immigrant populations.
About the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy
The Center is a national hub connecting policymakers, educators, community leaders, and service providers with evidence-informed policy research, technical assistance, and data to advance effective immigrant integration at U.S., state, and local levels.
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