Some immigrants in the state of Massachusetts may be able to access SNAP benefits after lawmakers approved millions of dollars in funding under the supplemental budget.
Under the legislation, this would benefit some migrants who are not citizens but who are in an immigration process or already hold legal status, including newly arrived migrants and those who have been here for a long time.
“It’s for immigrants who have an immigration status as of today, they may be DACA they may be Tepesians they may be in a legal process they can show they are in a legal process,” Gladys Vega, of La Colaborativa de Chelsea.
These would be some of the people eligible under the expansion of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits better known as SNAP.
Vega says that “the criteria and the data they need is a little different because they have to show that there is a legal immigration proceeding that they are in that’s the only thing different.”
A total of $6 million was being allocated to cover this expansion, under the recently approved supplemental budget.
“Immigration takes work tells me TPS is not valid, meanwhile I don’t have any income with that I’m going to eat with that I’m going to get my medical instead this program allows you to apply,” Vega added.
She explains that this is the restoration of a law that worked until 2002, and that the organization together with the coalition “Feeding Our Neighbors” pushed for earlier this year.
Mass law report and the collaborative have changed this law for all immigrants in Massachusetts who have legal status, said vega, after finding themselves in a precarious situation to meet the community’s need for food, especially with the arrival of more immigrants to the state.
According to the state, the program will be in effect until the funds are exhausted and retroactive payments will be issued up to the date of the signing of this law, which occurred earlier this month.
“It’s not just for new immigrants but for migrants who have been working here who have been out of work and now have a great opportunity for them to get stronger and get back on their feet,” Vega said.
The state says that by spring 2024, it anticipates having all the necessary changes in place for the program to take effect.
For more information, as well as a list of organizations assisting with the SNAP application, click here.