There is some good news on the food stamp policy front. Some non-citizens will no longer receive SNAP benefits. For good. They never should have started receiving them in the first place.
About 90,000 people will lose SNAP benefits in an average month as a result of the new restrictions narrowing which noncitizens can access the program. https://t.co/N8hXDgV7q7
— ABC News (@ABC) October 30, 2025
After fleeing the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo, Antoinette landed in the Atlanta area last November and began to find her footing with federal help.
Separated from her adult children and grieving her husband's death in the war, she started a job packing boxes in a warehouse, making just enough to cover rent for her own apartment and bills.
Antoinette has been relying on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, for her weekly grocery trips.
But now, just as life is starting to stabilize, she will have to deal with a new setback.
President Donald Trump's massive budget law, which Republicans call the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, slashes $187 billion -- or nearly 20% -- from the federal budget for SNAP through 2034. And separate from any temporary SNAP stoppages due to the federal shutdown, the law cuts off access completely for refugees and other immigrant groups in the country lawfully. The change was slated to take effect immediately when the law was signed in July, but states are still awaiting federal guidance on when to stop or phase it out. The budget law, which funds several of the president's priorities, including tax cuts to wealthy Americans and border security, revokes refugees' access to Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for people with low incomes or disabilities, starting in October 2026. But one of the first provisions to take effect under the law removes SNAP eligibility for most refugees, asylum seekers, trafficking and domestic violence victims, and other legal immigrants. About 90,000 people will lose SNAP in an average month as a result of the new restrictions narrowing which noncitizens can access the program, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
It's not a small amount of money being spent, either.
Federal, state and local spending on refugees and asylum seekers, including food, health care, education, and other expenses, totaled $457.2 billion from 2005 to 2019, according to a February 2024 report from the Department of Health and Human Services. During that time, 21% of refugees and asylum seekers received SNAP benefits, compared with 15% of all U.S. residents.
Remember when the Democrats lied and said illegals don't get welfare.
Maybe they should just go back to their own countries? https://t.co/6XgsoBpTvR
— janice (@chestnuthell) October 30, 2025
Maybe those billions should be spent helping the working poor in America. Heavy on the 'working' part. Help those in need who are out trying to improve their lives.
Its more or less everyday I learn about a new program getting slashed that I had no idea existed that would never in a million years pass a vote in the legislature https://t.co/GUUumFCijX
— Kevin McCarville (@KevMcCarville) October 30, 2025
Maybe the United States should cut taxes since there is so much bloat.
Hymmm aren’t we told only American citizens receive government (tax payer) money? Always lies. @RepJeffries @SpeakerPelosi @FoxNews https://t.co/uUhDnwLQvd
— Christine OMugs (@COMugs) October 30, 2025
That's what they tell us, but they are lying to the American people.
GOOD.
— Liberty Belle (@iLibertyBelle) October 30, 2025
Noncitizens should never be getting free $$$$ on the backs of hardworking Americans.
Full stop. https://t.co/Kd1eUYN0WM
THE NUMBER OF ‘NONCITIZENS’ ON WELFARE SHOULD BE ZERO
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 30, 2025
ABSOLUTE: 0
THIS IS INSANITY https://t.co/lARAFZqO7u
Full stop.