GOP Plan Could Strip 1.7 Million Americans of Food Stamps

GOP Congressman Randy Fine says he is preparing a bill to ban all non-citizens from receiving welfare, including food stamps, a sweeping proposal that would instantly put more than 1.7 million people at risk of losing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. The threat lands as the federal shutdown grinds toward the one-month mark, raising the prospect that November SNAP payments may not go out at all. In a post on X, Fine wrote, “I am going to introduce a bill to ban all non-citizens from any form of welfare. No Food Stamps. No Section 8 housing. No Medicaid. No Cash Assistance. Not one penny. Not one. If you want free stuff, go home.” The congressman did not release bill text, committee referrals, or a timeline for introduction, but the message was unmistakable, a maximalist cut pitched in the middle of a shutdown that has already put tens of millions of households on edge. An analysis from the Economic Policy Innovation Center estimates that 1.764 million non-citizens received SNAP in fiscal year 2023, at a cost of about 5.7 billion dollars, a figure derived from U.S. Department of Agriculture data. If Fine’s plan became law, that entire cohort could be pushed off the program. Reports also note that the target population represents only a fraction of overall SNAP enrollment. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has indicated that it will not use its $5 billion contingency fund to cover November SNAP benefits during the shutdown, a decision that could interrupt aid for more than 41 million people. The shutdown is now approaching 30 days, compounding the stress for families who rely on EBT cards to buy groceries. Eligibility rules for immigrants are already complex. SNAP benefits are not available to undocumented non-citizens, and access for lawfully present immigrants depends on specific categories, income tests, and in many cases a five-year bar. Refugees and asylees have historically had bigger access, though policy shifts in 2025 have tightened certain pathways. In practice, mixed-status families often receive prorated housing support under Section 8 rules, and non-qualified immigrants are generally limited to emergency Medicaid. Despite heated rhetoric, immigrant participation lags behind that of U.S.-born households. The Migration Policy Institute has found that among eligible families, participation rates are lower for immigrants than for the native-born, and researchers have repeatedly documented barriers ranging from fear and confusion to administrative hurdles. Julia Gelatt of MPI has said that “years of evidence point to the fact that non-citizens use SNAP at lower rates than U.S. citizens.” Fine has recently floated other high-profile moves, including a bill to bar people with foreign citizenship from serving in Congress, arguing that lawmakers should have undivided allegiance to the United States. Supporters frame his welfare proposal as common sense, while critics call it collective punishment that would hit working families and U.S. citizen children in mixed-status households. With no bill text yet and Congress consumed by the funding standoff, the next step is procedural, but the political fight is already here and millions of dinner tables are caught in the crossfire.

In a post on X, Fine wrote, “I am going to introduce a bill to ban all non-citizens from any form of welfare. No Food Stamps. No Section 8 housing. No Medicaid. No Cash Assistance. Not one penny. Not one. If you want free stuff, go home.” The congressman did not release bill text, committee referrals, or a timeline for introduction, but the message was unmistakable, a maximalist cut pitched in the middle of a shutdown that has already put tens of millions of households on edge.

An analysis from the Economic Policy Innovation Center estimates that 1.764 million non-citizens received SNAP in fiscal year 2023, at a cost of about 5.7 billion dollars, a figure derived from U.S. Department of Agriculture data. If Fine’s plan became law, that entire cohort could be pushed off the program. Reports also note that the target population represents only a fraction of overall SNAP enrollment.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has indicated that it will not use its $5 billion contingency fund to cover November SNAP benefits during the shutdown, a decision that could interrupt aid for more than 41 million people. The shutdown is now approaching 30 days, compounding the stress for families who rely on EBT cards to buy groceries.

Eligibility rules for immigrants are already complex. SNAP benefits are not available to undocumented non-citizens, and access for lawfully present immigrants depends on specific categories, income tests, and in many cases a five-year bar. Refugees and asylees have historically had bigger access, though policy shifts in 2025 have tightened certain pathways. In practice, mixed-status families often receive prorated housing support under Section 8 rules, and non-qualified immigrants are generally limited to emergency Medicaid.

Despite heated rhetoric, immigrant participation lags behind that of U.S.-born households. The Migration Policy Institute has found that among eligible families, participation rates are lower for immigrants than for the native-born, and researchers have repeatedly documented barriers ranging from fear and confusion to administrative hurdles. Julia Gelatt of MPI has said that “years of evidence point to the fact that non-citizens use SNAP at lower rates than U.S. citizens.”

Fine has recently floated other high-profile moves, including a bill to bar people with foreign citizenship from serving in Congress, arguing that lawmakers should have undivided allegiance to the United States. Supporters frame his welfare proposal as common sense, while critics call it collective punishment that would hit working families and U.S. citizen children in mixed-status households. With no bill text yet and Congress consumed by the funding standoff, the next step is procedural, but the political fight is already here and millions of dinner tables are caught in the crossfire.