As Federal Government Reopens, World Relief Urges Congress to Revisit SNAP Benefits for Lawfully Present Immigrants — and for Christians to Step Up to Meet Urgent Needs

Victims of human trafficking, refugees and other lawfully present immigrants among those facing continued deprivation

Contact: Lauren Rasmussen, media@wr.org, 802.310.4255

BALTIMORE, Md. – World Relief is relieved that bipartisan efforts to reopen the federal government, culminating in a bill signed late Wednesday night to extend funding through January, will restore SNAP benefits for millions of Americans and allow federal employees to return to their jobs. As many services come back online and families are again able to access life-sustaining resources, however, World Relief urges members of Congress to reinstate access to SNAP benefits that were cut off for certain lawfully-present humanitarian immigrants, including refugees, asylees and victims of human trafficking, as part of the budget reconciliation bill known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025.

Refugees, who are selected by the U.S. government after extensive overseas screening for legal resettlement in the U.S., become eligible to apply for their green cards (Lawful Permanent Resident status) only one year after arriving — and it can take roughly a year, in many cases, for the U.S. government to process and approve that application. Under the budget reconciliation bill, passed into law last July, refugees can no longer  access SNAP benefits until their green cards are approved. Other groups, including those granted visas as victims of human trafficking and those granted asylum, have also become ineligible for this support at least until they qualify for Lawful Permanent Resident status. Certain Cuban and Haitian entrants, as well as those with approved Special Immigrant Visas based on service to the U.S. military, are among those non-citizens still generally eligible for benefits.

“While most of the 42 million whose SNAP benefits were disrupted during the shutdown will be seeing their benefits get reinstated, for an estimated 45% of the individuals we serve at World Relief within the United States, the scarcity will continue even after the government reopens,” commented Aerlande Wontamo, senior vice president of U.S. Programs at World Relief. “These are women, men and children who have fled unthinkable hardship in their home country and have been welcomed by the U.S. government to find haven in America. Even though most adult refugees are employed within a few months of arrival, many still have income levels that have previously qualified them for this vital nutritional assistance for themselves and their children. We’re working with churches and local partners around the country to step into this gap.”

World Relief’s offices across the country are rallying to meet the increasing needs of the many lawfully present refugees and asylees whom the organizations serves across the United States. In Wisconsin, 150 families served by World Relief Wisconsin will be impacted, representing over 500 individuals, 70% of whom are children. Across World Relief’s Chicagoland offices, an estimated 1,000 refugees will be impacted. World Relief offices and our partner churches are mobilizing food drives, distributing grocery gift cards and advocating for our government to reconsider this policy change.

“Revoking SNAP benefits from refugees is a moral failure,” commented Myal Greene, president and CEO of World Relief. “Scripture could not be clearer: in Leviticus 19:9–10, God commands His people to ensure that immigrants and the poor have access to food. These supports were already in place, yet this summer’s budget reconciliation bill pulled them back — a deliberate choice that ignores God’s Word. Compassion was replaced with cruelty, and that choice stands in direct contradiction to the biblical vision of a just society.”

“Not only are we called to care for those in need, but studies have shown that this investment in refugees’ first few years in the country is eventually more than paid back,” noted Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy at World Relief. “Twenty years after arrival, the average refugee adult has contributed more than $20,000 more in taxes, at all levels, than the combined cost of governmental expenditures on their behalf over those two decades, including food benefits for which they have previously qualified. We call on Congress to revisit the provisions in the budget reconciliation bill that cut off the vulnerable during the first several months of their time residing lawfully in the U.S.”

To learn more about World Relief’s work both to support lawfully present immigrants around the country, visit worldrelief.org/give-hope.