Sponsor
Timothy Burchett
Representative · R-TN
Representative · R-TN
The bill tightens immigration‑based SNAP eligibility to reduce program spending and create a uniform federal rule, but at the cost of removing food assistance from many immigrant and mixed‑status households, increasing child food insecurity and shifting burdens onto charities and state agencies.
Taxpayers: Federal (and likely state) SNAP spending would likely fall if non‑citizen household members who have not been lawful permanent residents for 10 continuous years are excluded from eligibility, reducing program outlays.
State agencies and USDA: Establishes a clearer, uniform federal rule for immigration‑based SNAP eligibility, reducing legal ambiguity and potentially simplifying decisionmaking across jurisdictions.
Low‑income households (including citizen children): Households with lawfully admitted immigrants who have not been LPRs for 10 continuous years — and mixed‑status families more broadly — would lose eligibility for some members or face deeper benefit losses, increasing food insecurity and harm to children and other vulnerable household members.
Non‑LPR immigrants with humanitarian statuses: Immigrants who are lawfully present but not LPRs (e.g., refugees, asylees, TPS holders, parolees) would be excluded even where current interpretations might allow benefits, reducing access for vulnerable immigrants.
Community organizations and local safety nets: Losses in federally provided food assistance would likely shift demand and costs onto charities, food banks, and local programs, straining community resources.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bars counting any household member for SNAP unless admitted as a specified lawful permanent resident and continuously lawfully resident in the U.S. for 10 years after admission.
Official title: To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to restrict the eligibility of aliens to receive supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits to aliens admitted to the United States as lawful permanent residents and who thereafter lawfully reside in the United States for at least 10 years.
Introduced June 25, 2026 by Timothy Burchett · Last progress June 25, 2026
Prohibits any individual from being counted as a household member eligible for SNAP unless the person was admitted as a lawful permanent resident (specific INA categories) and has continuously resided lawfully in the U.S. for 10 years after that admission. The provision explicitly overrides other law and changes SNAP household eligibility by adding both an immigration-status requirement and a decade-long lawful-residence test. This change would bar many non‑citizen immigrants, some lawful permanent residents who have not reached 10 years of continuous lawful residence, and their household members from being treated as eligible members for SNAP benefit purposes, creating new verification and administrative requirements for program administrators and likely reducing benefit access for affected households.