Terry R. Hunt

Alien Rights - Food Stamps

The federal "food stamp" program is a public benefit provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service. It provides people with low incomes a type of coupon that they can use at grocery stores toward the purchase of food.

Current General Law

All legal immigrant children under 18 years old, regardless of when they entered the United States, are eligible for food stamp programs beginning in fiscal year 2004. In addition, as of April 1, 2003, "qualified aliens" who have lived in the United States for at least five years from the date of their entry into the U.S. are eligible for the food stamp program. An alien is qualified if he or she is (1) a lawful permanent resident; (2) an asylee; (3) a refugee; (4) a parolee; (5) an alien under withheld deportation; or (6) an alien granted conditional entry. Children are not subject to the five-year residency requirement, effective October 1, 2003. In addition, disabled adult immigrants may receive food stamps without waiting if they meet the food stamp definition of disabled.

Prior Law

These rights are a change from previous law. Under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, legal aliens were generally not entitled to food stamps. PRWORA's applicability was both prospective and retrospective, meaning that in addition to affecting food stamp eligibility after the effective date of the act, it stopped food stamp eligibility for aliens who had been receiving it prior to PRWORA's effect date. The nutrition provisions of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 were called the Food Stamp Reauthorization Act of 2002. The Food Stamp Act amended PRWORA to restore food stamps to legal immigrants.

Exceptions To General Rules In Current Law

In addition to the general food stamp eligibility rules established in the Food Stamp Act, some other aliens can be eligible for food stamps without regard to how long they have been in the United States and without restriction as to how long the benefits are set to last. These include refugees, and lawful permanent residents who can show a certain length of work history. In addition, certain ethnic groups are entitled to food stamps regardless of how long they have been in the United States. These groups include Hmong and highland Lao tribe members who assisted the United States armed forces during the Vietnam War and certain Native Americans born in Canada or Mexico. Battered spouses and children are also fall into this category.