Clarifying Access: What New Federal SNAP Restrictions and Guidance Mean for Immigrant Communities

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a lifeline that prevents millions of families from going hungry. The devastating budget bill passed last summer dramatically restricted eligibility for this program for many immigrants. New federal guidance implementing these restrictions is irresponsibly written, creating confusion about eligibility while political gridlock is leaving thousands without the SNAP payments they need. 

Two federal laws restrict immigrant eligibility for SNAP: a 1996 law that created a five-year waiting period for SNAP eligibility for certain qualified immigrants, but included critical exceptions for humanitarian immigrants; and the 2025 reconciliation bill, which largely restricts eligibility for most lawfully present immigrants except for lawful permanent residents (with some exceptions). The 1996 exceptions clearly remain in place despite the 2025 bill, but new federal guidance is unclear on this point. Federal SNAP benefits have never been available to undocumented immigrants. 

SNAP is federally funded but state-administered. Therefore, state agencies across the country have a clear responsibility to ensure eligible individuals can access the benefits they need, not to introduce additional barriers. This commentary seeks to provide state officials and advocates with a better understanding of how to implement recent changes in law, and how immigrant households can ensure they are not wrongly denied SNAP benefits.  

The 2025 Reconciliation Law’s Restrictions on SNAP Eligibility  

This summer, Congress passed the harmful 2025 reconciliation law that drastically cut food assistance for immigrants who were otherwise eligible under the law. The bill restricted eligibility for SNAP, which will now be available only to lawful permanent residents (LPRs or green card holders), certain immigrants from Cuba and Haiti, and people living in the United States under a Compact of Free Association (known as “COFA citizens”).  

H.R. 1’s changes to eligibility mean the following immigrant groups who were previously eligible for SNAP will no longer be eligible unless they adjust to LPR status: 

• Refugees, asylees and individuals granted withholding of removal/deportation 

• Survivors of domestic violence who are self-petitioners under the Violence Against Women Act 

• Certain survivors of trafficking and their family members 

• Certain American Indians born abroad 

• Hmong or Highland Laotian tribal members  

• Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrants (SIVs) 

• Conditional entrants 

• Parolees granted more than a year of parole and certain  

• Certain Afghan and Ukrainian parolees 

• LPRs under INA § 249, known as legalization through “Registry” 

The bill did not specify an effective date for these changes. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that in a given month, this restriction would lead to 90,000 fewer people getting SNAP. Their families would receive an average $210 reduction in food aid per month.  

Prior Law and the Five-Year Waiting Period 

Prior to the 2025 reconciliation law, SNAP was available only to a few groups of “qualified” immigrants as defined in the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). The 1996 law also imposed a five-year waiting period for many of these immigrants but provided many exceptions to that five-year waiting period. The 2025 reconciliation law did not erase or even amend this underlying law. It instead amended the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 and how states are funded, which created an additional layer of restrictions on top of those in the 1996 law. 

Although this effectively narrowed the categories of eligibility for SNAP and some other programs, it did not affect how the five-year waiting period operates under PRWORA. That means several categories of immigrants are not subject to a five-year waiting period before they are eligible for benefits because of PRWORA’s exceptions. LPRs who do not have to wait the five-year period include people who:  

• Entered as a refugee, were granted asylum, or were granted withholding of removal/deportation 

• Are certain survivors of trafficking  

• Entered with a special immigrant visa 

• Are under 18 years old 

• Have 40 qualifying work quarters 

• Are receiving benefits for people with disabilities  

• Were lawfully residing in the U.S. and 65 or older on August 22, 1996,  

• Certain individuals who are active-duty U.S. military or were honorably discharged from the U.S. military, and their spouses and children 

• Are Amerasian immigrants 

• Are certain American Indians born abroad 

• Are certain Hmong or Highland Laotian tribal members. 

See 8 U.S.C. 1612 and 1613; see also Public Law 111-118, section 8120. 

October 31 SNAP Guidance Omits Critical Information regarding the Five-Year Waiting Period  

On October 31, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) issued guidance in the form of an implementation memo, explaining the 2025 reconciliation law’s changes to SNAP eligibility for immigrants. FNS’ guidance on the exemption from the five-year waiting period is governed by and should implement existing law, but the drafting is internally contradictory and confusing.  

The guidance states that non-U.S. citizens eligible for SNAP without a waiting period include Cuban-Haitian entrants and COFA citizens, consistent with the 2025 law. Cuban-Haitian entrants is a benefit category that includes people who were granted parole or other forms of status available to people from those countries, as well as people who do not have a final order of removal who are in removal proceedings or who have a pending asylum application. 

The guidance correctly notes that LPRs continue to be subject to a five-year waiting period, unless exempted by PRWORA, and cites to the relevant portion of the law (8 U.S.C. 1612). However, the accompanying chart neglects to include the humanitarian groups that are exempt from the five-year waiting period. As noted, PRWORA was not amended in 2025, so the same exemptions remain in place. The chart and any state implementation should reflect the PRWORA framework that the guidance cites.  

Because the definition and rules around qualified immigrants are part of PRWORA, LPRs who previously held a humanitarian immigrant status are still not subject to the five-year waiting period. The FNS guidance provides a conflicting explanation of exclusions that could lead states to an inaccurate conclusion.  

These individuals must meet all other eligibility requirements, such as having a low income.  

The guidance states that the new eligibility criteria are effective immediately for new applicants, giving states no time to prepare for implementation. However, the guidance explains that for households already receiving SNAP, the restrictions should be applied at their recertification.  

Because this guidance was released during a government shutdown and as states were anticipating an unprecedented delay in receiving monthly SNAP funds, states may face significant challenges meeting this expectation. With this rapid implementation timeline, it will be imperative that advocates work with officials, particularly where the guidance lacks clarity for agencies.  

What Families Can Watch For 

Immigrant families who are receiving SNAP should assess whether they may be affected by these new restrictions and when they are due to recertify their SNAP eligibility. At that point their state may send them a letter noting their potential change to eligibility. Because SNAP eligibility is by household, families may still be eligible for partial assistance. For example, in a family with a mom who is a refugee with two U.S. citizen children, the mom would lose SNAP eligibility, but the two children would still be eligible. The family would receive pro-rated assistance, which means they would have fewer dollars each month. 

Immigrant families may have access to other sources of food assistance. Five states offer their own programs for some immigrants who are ineligible for federal assistance. Immigrants, regardless of status, can also use food banks and certain other low or no cost food distribution programs.  

Considerations for Advocates and Policymakers 

Given the confusion that this guidance is likely to create, states and other policymakers should: 

1. Request that FNS issue additional clarifying guidance that restates the statutory requirement that LPRs who were previously humanitarian immigrants are not subject to a waiting period.  
2. For states implementing the 2025 reconciliation law’s SNAP restrictions on immigrants, follow the exemptions listed in the 1996 law as amended, including for humanitarian immigrants.  
3. Ensure that newly ineligible immigrants can retain their SNAP benefits until their regular recertification period and that eligibility workers are fully trained to assess a family’s eligibility. 

In the longer term, federal policymakers should work to reverse these harmful restrictions by repealing the eligibility restrictions in the 2025 reconciliation law. SNAP benefits are an important and effective policy. Substantial data shows that SNAP leads to lower health care costs and improved health outcomes. The program significantly reduces poverty, with some estimates that SNAP can reduce the poverty rate by 14 to 16 percent. Each dollar in SNAP generates $1.79 in economic activity.    

Fully embracing the value of this program should also acknowledge that the five-year waiting period itself is self-defeating and merely causes unnecessary harm to new members of communities across the country. Congress can and should make all lawfully present immigrants eligible for SNAP without a waiting period by passing the LIFT the BAR Act. States can also further address the harmful impact of hunger by strengthening their own support networks for immigrants by funding food assistance bills for excluded immigrants. 

In this increasingly hostile climate for immigrants, marked by heightened enforcement and reduced access to public benefits, these sweeping restrictions on food assistance eligibility are likely to exacerbate chilling effects and to increase food insecurity. Everyone in the United States regardless of their immigration status deserves food.