SNAP is back in time for the holidays. But millions could be losing benefits under Trump — and food banks are bracing for them
The end of the government shutdown last month restored funding for a critical food assistance program that keeps millions of families out of hunger.
But the weeks-long crisis over the fate of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which helps more than 40 million Americans pay for groceries, has only underscored the worsening rates of food insecurity across the United States.
New restrictions on who qualifies for SNAP are expected to squeeze millions of families off these benefits in the coming years. And President Donald Trump is threatening to cut even more Americans from the country’s largest anti-hunger program if they live in Democratic-led states.
Hundreds of food pantries and soup kitchens — already stretched thin by the pandemic, rising food prices and soaring cost of living — saw an increase in new clients during the shutdown. The vast majority are struggling to have enough food to meet growing demand, according to a recent survey from Hunger Free America.
Anti-hunger groups and food pantries have relied on volunteer support and donations to keep running, but seasonal donations and volunteering is easily outpaced by the escalating and compounded crises fueling what advocates are comparing to pandemic-level emergencies. “I don’t want to be the Grinch,” says Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America. “We’re in this challenge to welcome all the help we can get.”
New Mexico has the highest rates of SNAP enrollment in the country, with nearly half a million residents and their families relying on the program. The state spent $30 million to keep the program afloat during the shutdown — but it is only a fraction of the roughly $1 billion a year needed to keep it fully funded for all recipients.
“We saw panic. People were absolutely scared,” said Katy Anderson, vice president of strategy, partnerships and advocacy for Roadrunner Food Bank of New Mexico. The group saw an increase of 40 percent more people seeking food assistance from October into November.
“People were still struggling and still worried and unclear on ‘is this all the SNAP I’m going to be getting for the whole month? I don’t know how I’m going to get my family through,’” she told The Independent. “We’re seeing people come in that are just at the end of their rope.”
New Mexico is once again in Trump’s crosshairs: The administration has threatened to withhold SNAP funding from the state, and others, unless they provide detailed data on who is receiving the benefits, including their immigration status.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins requested the data in February, and 22 Democratic-led states have resisted, citing privacy concerns and fears that the administration is simply trolling for data to support the president’s vast anti-immigration agenda, which has spanned virtually every federal agency.
USDA’s demand for data was temporarily blocked by a federal judge in October.
During a Cabinet meeting with administration officials December 2, Rollins said that “we have begun and will begin to stop moving federal funds into those states until they comply and allow us to partner with them to root out this fraud to protect the American taxpayer.”
The administration is also implementing new work requirements for SNAP beneficiaries that went into effect with the passage of Trump’s sweeping tax and domestic policy bill in July.
More recipients will now have to work, go to school or volunteer to get benefits for more than three months, every three years. That includes adults ages 55 to 64, people experiencing homelessness, and people with children between ages 14 and 17.
