In New York City, hundreds of asylum seekers wait in line outside the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in June 2023. Under President Donald Trump’s new tax and spending package, the majority of refugees and asylees will no longer be eligible for food stamps. (Image via Getty Images/David Dee Delgado))
U.S. B. claimed that he fled Cameroon nine years ago due to fear for his life. He said that the West African country’s authorities imprisoned him due to his sexual orientation. He was afraid of being assassinated if he remained in the nation after being freed.
B., now 39, came to the United States with almost little and requested to be recognized solely by his initials because he still has family in Cameroon. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, has been his lifeline since he was given refuge last year.
However, B. and the majority of other legally admitted refugees and asylees are no longer eligible for food stamps. The modification is a component of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a massive domestic policy bill signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4.
It’s unfair, in my opinion. B. told Stateline, “I am aware that some people misuse the system.” Additionally, there are some who are in need. Additionally, it will be extremely difficult for families like mine to receive assistance.
Funded by the federal government but managed by the states, SNAP assists low-income families and individuals in augmenting their grocery expenditures. On average, 42 million people are served by the program each month.
The change’s supporters point out that refugees and asylees have other sources of support and can obtain work permits.
According to Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonprofit organization that supports tougher immigration laws, “it’s not like they were dropped off in this country with no support system.”
They have work authorization and sponsoring organizations that are assisting them in settling in. Therefore, they ought to be making progress toward independence with assistance from the very beginning. She went on to say that they should be taking the next step to get green cards, which are documents that indicate permanent status.
Vaughan mentioned a federal grant program that pays states and charitable groups back for the financial assistance and medical coverage they give refugees.
However, detractors contend that refugees and asylees, who undergo rigorous screening and have a legal route to citizenship, may have to wait years to obtain a green card, which grants them access to a greater range of benefits.
Additionally, they claim that local organizations that serve refugees and asylees are overburdened. They claim that many refugees and their families wouldn’t have enough food if food stamps weren’t in place.
It will be extremely difficult for families like mine to be denied assistance.
B., an asylee from Cameroon
According to Nicolas Palazzo, a policy counsel at the international humanitarian and refugee advocacy group HIAS, SNAP is a very basic program for this group of people who arrive in the United States with little to nothing. These are people who literally had to leave several times in the middle of the night with nothing but a rucksack and a pair of clothing.
Additionally, Palazzo stated that SNAP is not a handout to asylum seekers or refugees. Instead, he claimed, it is a wise and ethical investment that safeguards all communities, boosts the economy, and gives individuals a starting point for independence.
According to Palazzo, denying essential food help pushes refugees and asylum seekers into the shadows of poverty, exploitation, and informal labor, which erodes our workforce and diminishes our moral commitments.
When B. first arrived in the United States in 2016, he applied for asylum right away, but he had to wait months for a work permit. He got by on very little and worked odd jobs like delivering food and cleaning houses. He was not entitled for any public benefits, including food stamps, until late 2024, when he ultimately prevailed in his asylum petition.
For B., being eligible for food stamps came at a crucial moment because he had been unable to provide meals due to an automobile accident.
According to B., it was really beneficial despite not having any money. I’m the type of person who will work if I can. I had nowhere else to go, which is the only reason I went over there to ask.
In 2023, 60,050 individuals were allowed to the United States as refugees, many of whom came from unstable nations like Afghanistan, Syria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in November 2024.
According to the Migration Policy Institute, an immigration research organization, the country received at least 747,000 asylum-seeking petitions in 2023 from nations like Venezuela, Cuba, and Colombia. Compared to the 68,000 applications that were received in 2013, this is a significant increase.
According to the new domestic policy statute, Cubans and Haitians who may be refugees or asylees are still eligible for food assistance.
As of July 2025, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a Syracuse University-based nonprofit that monitors immigration cases, estimates that over 2.2 million immigrants in the United States are awaiting hearings or judgments after formally seeking for asylum.
According to B., navigating the system was challenging. I needed to find some cash. I needed a lawyer to aid me with my asylum application. It took a long time to process the asylum case.
People who have been here for over a decade and have never been interviewed are still people I know.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reports that in 2023, just ten states—Texas, New York, California, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, and Washington—received half of all refugees admitted.
Approximately 41,000 persons in the state are receiving SNAP benefits despite not being lawful permanent residents, according to Barbara Guinn, commissioner of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. She claims that asylees and refugees are part of that group.
Guinn told Stateline that the troubling aspect of this situation is that these are people who were legally admitted to the nation, were previously eligible for SNAP when they needed it, and will now no longer be able to get SNAP benefits due to their status. We will be unable to do anything to qualify them.
Additionally, the new law requires states to pay for a portion of their food stamp programs for the first time. Beginning in fiscal year 2028, states will be required to pay 5% to 15% of their SNAP costs, depending on how effectively they distribute benefits to program-eligible individuals.
According to Robert Rector, a senior research scholar at the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, states are free to keep giving refugees and asylees SNAP benefits as long as they cover the costs.
New York State can keep providing them with food stamps or similar benefits if they don’t want to cut them off. Rector stated that they just must use New York state funds at this time.
However, Guinn stated that it will be challenging. Through its Safety Net aid Program, New York does provide asylum-seekers with $180 per month in monetary aid; however, recipients usually need to be employed.
About 24,600 of the 3.5 million SNAP recipients in Texas as of last month were refugees or asylees, according to authorities at the state’s health and human services agency. More than 10,000 refugees and asylees were helped by Maryland’s SNAP program last year, according to an email from a human services agency representative.
The California Department of Social Services could not provide the number of refugees and asylees receiving food stamps, but projected that a total of 74,000 noncitizens including lawfully permanent residents, refugees and asylees would lose eligibility under the new law.
Sherri Laigle, the director of social services at HIAS, said food banks will not be able to make up for refugees and asylees loss of SNAP benefits.
They re already stretched, and now we re going to see tens of thousands of people also needing to continue to rely on these programs. Of course, there s limited access to them. You have to have transportation. You have to be able to get there.
B. said he would apply for food stamps again if he could, because he s earning too little income to get by.
There are people who are in need. I think ignoring that it s not human.
