![\"EBT](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/DSC08860-1024x682.jpg.webp.webp\")
EBT sign inside Shams Market in Sacramento on April 7, 2026. (Tyler Bastine)<\/p>\nNew CalFresh food benefit restrictions went into effect on April 1, according to changes laid out in the federal \u201cBig Beautiful Bill,\u201d or H.R.1. Non-citizen groups who are no longer eligible for monthly food benefits include refugees, asylees, humanitarian parolees and trafficking survivors.<\/p>\n
In Sacramento County alone, approximately 30,161 non-citizen immigrants will lose CalFresh coverage. <\/p>\n
The changes to eligibility went into effect earlier this month, but participants will not be deemed ineligible until they go in for their annual recertification.<\/p>\n
At Shams Market in Arden Arcade, the bakery turns out sheet after sheet of thin, warm Afghan bread.<\/p>\n
Customers, many of whom have newly arrived in the United States, come from the surrounding neighborhoods to buy large quantities of the product to use on a near nightly basis.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like our utensils,\u201d Shams Amin, owner of the market on Auburn Boulevard, said from behind the register.<\/p>\n
The bread, along with other staples of Afghan cuisine like rice and sweet cream, is one of the culturally important foods that can be bought at Shams Market with CalFresh food benefits. Amin estimates that nearly 40% of the store\u2019s overall business is through CalFresh, which allows recipients to buy their own food with money that is preloaded onto debit cards each month.<\/p>\n
But the beginning of April \u2014 and the \u201cBig Beautiful Bill\u201d President Donald Trump signed into law last year \u2014 brought drastic changes to the eligibility rules for the benefits program, and many of Amin\u2019s customers are set to lose hundreds of dollars each month in money for food.<\/p>\n
EBT sign inside Shams Market in Sacramento on April 7, 2026. (Tyler Bastine)<\/p>\n
According to new rules set forth by H.R. 1, CalFresh, which is the state program that administers federal SNAP benefits, is no longer allowed to serve certain legal non-citizens, including refugees, asylees, humanitarian parolees and trafficking survivors. In Sacramento County alone, that means that approximately 30,161 people, including 13,634 kids, will automatically lose CalFresh coverage the next time they try to recertify their benefits.<\/p>\n
Amin, whose store caters to Afghan residents, is already having difficult conversations with customers.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of these people are newly arrived,\u201d and many don\u2019t have legal status to work, he said.<\/p>\n
As a result, Amin sees people, some of whom served alongside the United States military as interpreters in Afghanistan, who are trying to figure out how to feed their families. They sometimes ask for loans or the opportunity to buy food on credit, he said, but that would put a significant strain on Amin\u2019s business.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really hard to plan for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"Man](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/DSC08888-1024x682.jpg.webp.webp\")
The Afghan flag at Shams Market in Sacramento on April 7, 2026. (Tyler Bastine)<\/p>\n
A \u2018rolling crisis\u2019<\/p>\n
Jims Porter, director of external affairs for Sacramento-based refugee resettlement agency Opening Doors, said that the change in CalFresh eligibility has created what will likely be a \u201crolling crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least for the next year, the rest of \u201926, we\u2019re going to be having to really scramble to support families as those benefits expire,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Porter said that most of the 4,700 people that Opening Doors supports rely on CalFresh benefits. When federal benefits are cut like this, it forces the organization to focus on immediate crisis intervention instead of long-term integration.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cLosing these benefits is going to have a big impact on the most vulnerable folks, the families that are seeking safety, seeking opportunity and really just trying to rebuild their lives here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The impact, Porter said, will be felt across the region, including at local food banks that are bracing for a rush of new clients.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t realistically scale up to fill this massive gap,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The result, Porter said, is families that his organization works with face eviction and food insecurity.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of them are in very, very difficult situations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sacramento\u2019s demographics<\/p>\n