key takeaway
H.R. 1’s new eligibility restrictions will cause tens of thousands of Californians with humanitarian immigration statuses to lose or see significant reductions in CalFresh assistance, putting immigrant and mixed-status families at greater risk of hunger.
CalFresh — California’s name for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — is a proven anti-poverty intervention and the most effective tool we have to fight hunger. Last year, Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration approved the largest cuts to food assistance in the program’s history.
As part of the SNAP cuts, starting April 1, 2026, 72,000 Californians with humanitarian immigration statuses, including refugees and people granted asylum, will lose their CalFresh monthly assistance at their next recertification and even more will see their benefits significantly reduced.
The new eligibility restrictions on these lawfully present humanitarian immigrants put thousands of California families at risk of a hunger crisis. The impacts of these cuts will be felt beyond individuals with specific humanitarian status, who include people with disabilities, seniors, and children. Their family members, a majority of whom are children and US citizens, will also be impacted by reduced assistance as entire household benefits are slashed with this change. For example, a four-person family where the two parents have been granted asylum and their two children are US citizens, could see their monthly food assistance drop from $994 to $546 — a 45% reduction.1$994 is the maximum SNAP monthly allotment for a family of four in Fiscal Year 2026. Excluding the parents reduces the household size to two members, who could receive a maximum of $546 per month in SNAP benefits. Note that the maximum SNAP allotment is granted to families with net income of $0 — those with the greatest need.
Already, hundreds of thousands of income-eligible Californians are excluded from receiving food assistance based on their immigration status. Without state action, H.R. 1-imposed immigrant restrictions will further exacerbate food insecurity among immigrant and mixed-status families, who disproportionately face high levels of poverty. Households impacted by H.R. 1-imposed immigrant restrictions are also currently ineligible for the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP), the state-funded food assistance program put in place in response to the 1996 federal cuts to immigrant SNAP eligibility, to mitigate inequitable food access.
Currently, an expansion of CFAP is being implemented for immigrants ages 55 and over, regardless of status, and once that is complete, the system will be better equipped to serve other excluded populations, like the humanitarian immigrants, should policymakers expand access.
California leaders should use all tools at their disposal, like building on this CFAP expansion, to prevent more families from going hungry and ensure all Californians in need can access food regardless of their immigration status.
