The U.S. Department of Agriculture is requiring states to provide records associated with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
The request comes after several calls from the department for states to ensure people in the country without legal permission are not accessing SNAP benefits, which the department said in a news release is a contributing factor to improper payments within the program.
The federal food assistance program has never been available to undocumented noncitizens. Some immigrant advocacy groups say the moves from the department could impact access for people who are eligible.
“The messaging is likely to scare people and discourage them from applying altogether because of what's going to happen with their information,” said Valerie Lacarte, senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute. “They're not sure of what's going to happen.”
Earlier this month, an adviser for USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service sent a letter to agency directors saying the department is taking steps to obtain data, including personally identifiable information and enough records to calculate the total dollar value of benefits. The department will require states to make sure all SNAP benefits and allotment records are shared with the federal government, according to a news release.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in the release that the department is focused on appropriate and lawful SNAP participation, and the request is one of many steps to ensure eligible people are using the program.
“President Trump is rightfully requiring the federal government to have access to all programs it funds, and SNAP is no exception,” Rollins said. “For years, this program has been on autopilot, with no USDA insight into real-time data.”
In April, USDA issued guidance directing agencies to enhance identity and immigration verification for eligibility. In an email, a spokesperson with the USDA Food and Nutrition Service said the memo was sent to state agencies reminding them of their administrative responsibilities.
“States have flexibility in how they implement various requirements and the guidance advocates for state agencies to strengthen their existing verification processes, especially for identity and immigration status,” the spokesperson said. “The latest guidance requires states to obtain more reliable documents to prove identity, take additional measures to deter fraudulent use of social security numbers, and better use the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system.”
The federal law that outlines noncitizen access has not changed since it was created nearly 30 years ago, Lacarte said.
“What is changing is the tone of the messaging,” Lacarte said. “But the verification of immigration status is something that has already been in the system since 1996.”
SNAP eligibility
SNAP is a massive federal program, costing about $100 billion in 2024 and serving more than 42 million people each month in fiscal year 2025, according to the USDA.
There are rules for who is eligible to receive the benefit, and it’s up to state, district and territory agencies to administer the program
“It’s pretty consistent nationally,” said Kate Bauer, a nutritional science professor at the University of Michigan. “I know some states like California might expand benefits a bit, but for the most part, it is U.S. citizens and permanent legal residents in the U.S. whose household incomes fall below 130% below the federal poverty line.”
For lawfully present noncitizens, there are other regulations. According to the USDA, noncitizen groups who are immediately eligible include refugees, victims of human trafficking, and Cuban and Haitian entrants who meet other SNAP requirements. Others, such as green card holders or lawfully permanent residents, are eligible after a 5-year waiting period and must meet the other rules.
Children in any eligible noncitizen group are immediately eligible as long as they meet the other SNAP conditions. Parents who are not eligible because of their immigration status can still apply for their children.
Lacarte said SNAP is a household benefit, and immigration eligibility does not concern solely one person in the household. She said a typical situation is that at least one parent might be unauthorized, but children are U.S. citizens.
“It's complicated enough to understand whether you qualify for the program,” Lacarte said. “And now for immigrants, you add on the layer of the immigration status definition and whether you can qualify and apply for that public benefit now and stay enrolled because they also have re-enrollment and paperwork bureaucracy. All of these are things that even in the U.S.-born population have been shown to discourage people who need the benefit.”
Esther Reyes is a campaign strategist with advocacy group Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition. She said that immigrants who have been eligible for the program still are.
“There are some other actions that could have an impact but haven't had an impact as far as eligibility,” Reyes said. “And so we really want to make it clear to families that nothing has changed and that people who are eligible remain eligible and they should keep using these benefits.”
Improper SNAP payments
An estimated 11.7% of SNAP payments were improper in 2023, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. That’s about $10.5 billion of $90.1 billion in spending.
Improper payments are disbursed dollars that are either over or under the expected amount. In fiscal year 2023, improper payments were mostly over, according to the USDA.
The government accountability report lists citizenship, education level or student enrollment, employment status, financial position, household size, identity and a person’s living location or arrangement as causes of errors.
In an email, a USDA spokesperson said SNAP payment error rates are not the same as fraud rates.
“Rather, the SNAP payment error rate is a measure of how accurately states determine eligibility and benefit amounts,” the spokesperson said.
The department has a quality control system in place to measure how accurately agencies decide eligibility and benefit amount, and correct errors that might happen.
Bauer said error rates are mostly driven by administrative errors, which can happen when information is entered incorrectly or a benefit amount is miscalculated.
“I think the fundamental point is that the error rate is a function of the bureaucracy,” Bauer said. “It is not a function of waste and fraud.”
Access to food
The federal calls for SNAP records come as lawmakers are weighing cuts to SNAP.
The reconciliation bill circulating in Congress would eliminate the tolerance level for error payments, increase the state’s share of administrative costs and prohibit states from providing the benefit to noncitizens or lawful permanent residents including those with refugee status, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Eric Savaiano, program manager for food and nutrition access at advocacy group Nebraska Appleseed, said that SNAP works, and more than 150,000 Nebraskans participate. He said the program and the people in it are “being demonized in different ways.”
“That doesn't support people participating, whether it's immigrants or citizens alike,” Savaiano said. “What we should be focused on is addressing poverty, providing real solutions and giving people the benefits that they need so that they aren't struggling. And this is not the way to do that.”
This story was produced in partnership with Harvest Public Media, a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest and Great Plains. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues.
