California is expected to become the first state to provide food benefits to immigrants living in the United States illegally, according to a budget plan released this week.
The proposed budget is intended to fill some gaps in the safety net, since immigrants living in the US without legal status are not eligible for federal benefits, such as food stamps.
But the new plan will only benefit Californians 55 and older, belying calls by anti-poverty advocates to cover all age groups.
Wages, yet unnecessary barriers continue to exclude hundreds of thousands of our neighbors and families from critical, life-saving services,” said Sarah Dahl, Director of Policy for the California Immigrant Policy Center.
The state budget deal reached by Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers includes $352 million to expand the state’s food assistance program to age-eligible residents “regardless of immigration status.”
Funding for the new program will increase to $1.134 billion per year by 2025-26. Legally residing immigrants are also excluded from federal food benefits, even though California has provided assistance to that group for a total of 35,000 people for decades.
The most recent state budget expands California’s food assistance program to include immigrants age 55 and older, regardless of immigration status.
The new policy is estimated to benefit more than 75,000 Californians a year, according to a report by the Office of Legislative Analysis, according to activists across the state.
He praised Newsom and Democratic lawmakers for leading the state’s push to provide more help to financially challenged immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally but defy age limits.
Nearly half of Californians without legal immigration status struggle with food insecurity, according to an April report by Nourish California, a food access and human rights group, most of them adults ages 27 to 49.
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