Beginning April 1, non-citizens, including refugees and asylees in San Diego, will lose CalFresh eligibility, impacting 13,000 people, according to local agencies.
SAN DIEGO — According to the county of San Diego website, beginning April 1st, several non-citizen groups will no longer be eligible for CalFresh, including refugees, asylees, and people with deportation or removal withheld.
Feeding San Diego says it has been preparing for this impact since the legislation passed last July and is now facing the reality of implementation. The nonprofit works with an extensive network of community partners and operates its own food distributions.
The organization says it works closely with the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency, which estimates about 13,000 people in the county could be affected by the change. However, they note that the loss of benefits will not occur all at once. Instead, people could lose benefits when they go through recertification, making the impact gradual. However, if immigration status changes, such as becoming a lawful permanent resident, individuals may qualify to retain benefits.
“So in areas where we see large populations of refugees and asylees City Heights, El Cajon, those are areas where primarily concerned about because we know they are high populations of people who are here they are non citizens but they are here legally and they are now no longer going to be able to access CalFresh,” said Carissa Casarez, senior communications manager for Feeding San Diego.
Food distribution organizations want to assure vulnerable residents that they will not be turned away. Assistance is available to all individuals in need, regardless of documentation status.
“At many of our food distributions, you don’t need to provide information; it is available to whoever needs it, and we don’t want to turn people away we are here to help,” Casarez said.
But this isn’t the only change that will impact people.
“June 1, we have another set of eligibility requirements going into effect, and then later this year, we have the cost shifting to states. So the federal government’s going to be paying less for SNAP benefits, and that’s going to have a big impact on the state budgets and whether or not states can fund these programs that so many people rely on to buy groceries. Also, the USDA is no longer able to increase the costs of these benefits moving forward,” Casarez said.
Coastal Roots Farm in Encinitas, a nonprofit community farm and education center, operates a “pay what you can” farm stand offering a variety of things like fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruit twice weekly. They are preparing for increased demand as these changes take effect.
“So here when we have fear stricken through our community April first we’re going to have HR1 actually hit the ground and all of those marginalized communities who we are open to and have been encouraging to serve day in, day out for the last 10 years are going to be hit harder than we or any food bank is even going to be able to provide,” Adam McCurdy, Director of Farm Production and Distribution at Coastal Roots Farm, said.
The county recommends that affected individuals submit renewal paperwork on time to ensure eligibility can be reviewed properly. Applicants should verify that contact information is current and respond promptly to any county communications. Additional resources are available through the county’s Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.