Misleading public charge policy will lead to increase in poverty and hunger

DENVER (January 28, 2020) — Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to temporarily lift the nationwide injunction that was blocking implementation of the Trump administration’s new public charge regulation. This new rule would allow immigration officials to consider use of a wider range of public benefits, including SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) when determining if someone is likely to become a burden on the U.S. government in the future.

Hunger Free Colorado strongly opposes the public charge regulation and is deeply disappointed by the Court’s decision to allow implementation of a rule that will cause irreparable harm to the health and well-being of Colorado communities. 

As the state’s leading anti-hunger organization, Hunger Free Colorado expects implementation of this rule to cause widespread increases in poverty, hunger and unmet health needs by making immigrant families afraid to use SNAP and other public benefits to weather life storms. 

While the regulation directly affects only a small number of immigrants, the fear and confusion caused by the rule has already caused many families to forego vital public assistance that strengthens our communities – assistance that they are legally entitled to receive. Even though the rule does not consider the use of benefits by U.S. citizens or people not subject to the public charge test, these groups will feel the harmful impact of these regulations because of the fear it causes their family, extended family and community. 

To clarify, while the new rule is harmful, it is also limited in scope. We want to remind Coloradans that food resources remain available and accessible in safe spaces. Most immigrants who qualify for the impacted public assistance programs, like SNAP, are not subject to public charge because these programs already have very strict eligibility requirements. 

The public charge test does not apply to all immigrants. Refugees, asylees, survivors of trafficking, domestic violence and other serious crimes, and other “humanitarian” immigrants are not affected. Lawful permanent residents (or “green card holders”) are not affected unless they leave the U.S. for more than 180 days and seek to reenter. There is also no public charge test during the citizenship application process. 

Many programs are not included in the new rule. Vital food and nutrition programs like WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children), free and reduced-price school meals, food pantries, soup kitchens and more are not included in the public charge test. If an individual is not subject to the public charge test, we highly recommend that they continue to use the SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, that they and their family are eligible for. 

Please call our free, bilingual and confidential Food Resource Hotline at 855-855-4626 to learn more about food resources in your community. No appointments needed, call Monday – Friday (8 am – 4:30 pm) and we’ll connect you and your family to nutritious food resources nearby. 

Please join our action network for federal and
state policy updates on food security policy.

La equivocada política de “carga pública” aumentará la pobreza y el hambre

DENVER (28 de enero de 2020) — Este lunes (27 de enero), la Corte Suprema de EEUU resolvió levantar temporalmente el mandato cautelar nacional que bloqueaba la implementación de la nueva regulación de carga pública de la Administración Trump. Esta nueva regla permitiría a los funcionarios de inmigración considerar el uso de una gama más amplia de beneficios públicos, incluido SNAP (antes conocido como cupones de alimentos o estampillas de comida) al determinar si es probable que alguien se convierta en una carga para el gobierno de EEUU en el futuro.

Hunger Free Colorado (Colorado Sin Hambre) se opone firmemente a la nueva regla de la carga pública y está profundamente decepcionado por la decisión del Tribunal supremo de permitir la implementación de una norma que causará daños irreparables a la salud y el bienestar de las comunidades de Colorado.

Como la principal organización contra el hambre del estado, Hunger Free Colorado anticipa que la implementación de esta regla cause aumentos generalizados en la pobreza, el hambre y las necesidades de salud insatisfechas al hacer que las familias inmigrantes tengan miedo de usar SNAP y otros beneficios públicos para capear las tormentas de la vida.

Si bien la regulación afecta directamente solo a un pequeño número de inmigrantes, el miedo y la confusión causados ??por la regla ya han provocado que muchas familias renuncien a la asistencia pública vital que fortalece a nuestras comunidades, asistencia que legalmente tienen derecho a recibir. Aunque la regla no considera el uso de beneficios por parte de ciudadanos estadounidenses o personas que no están sujetas a la prueba de carga pública, estos grupos sentirán el impacto dañino de estas regulaciones debido al temor que causa a su familia, familia extendida y comunidad. 

Para aclarar, si bien la nueva regla es perjudicial, también tiene un alcance limitado. Queremos recordar a los habitantes de Colorado que los recursos alimenticios permanecen disponibles y accesibles en espacios seguros. La mayoría de los inmigrantes que califican para los programas de asistencia pública afectados, como SNAP, no están sujetos a carga pública porque estos programas ya tienen requisitos de elegibilidad muy estrictos.

La prueba de carga pública no se aplica a todos los inmigrantes. Los refugiados, asilados, sobrevivientes de tráfico de personas, violencia doméstica y otros delitos graves, y otros inmigrantes “humanitarios” no se ven afectados. Los residentes permanentes legales (o “titulares de la tarjeta verde”) no se ven afectados a menos que abandonen EEUU durante más de 180 días y busquen volver a ingresar. Tampoco hay prueba de carga pública durante el proceso de solicitud de ciudadanía. 

Muchos programas no están incluidos en la nueva regla. Los programas vitales de alimentos y nutrición como WIC, comidas escolares gratuitas y de precio reducido, despensas de alimentos, comedores populares y más no están incluidos en la prueba de carga pública. Si un individuo no está sujeto a la prueba de carga pública, le recomendamos que continúe usando los beneficios de SNAP, también conocidos como cupones de alimentos, para los que ellos y su familia son elegibles. 

Llame a nuestra línea directa gratuita, bilingüe y confidencial de recursos alimentarios al 855-855-4626 para obtener más información sobre los recursos alimentarios en su comunidad. No se necesitan citas, llame de lunes a viernes (de 8 am a 4:30 pm) y lo conectaremos a usted y a su familia con recursos alimenticios nutritivos cercanos.

Increase SNAP Outreach Funding (with a Focus on the Enrollment of Eligible Students)

All increases in funding from State-supported outreach and the private sector will receive a 100% federal match for the enrollment of eligible, school-age community members and their families struggling with hunger.

Only 6 out of 10 eligible Coloradans utilize SNAP. This gap represents a huge loss of federal dollars in benefits (in the hundreds of millions) that could support our local communities, especially in rural Colorado.

One of the Governor’s Wildly Important Goals for this upcoming state fiscal year is to utilize SNAP outreach partners to increase the enrollment of eligible Coloradans in SNAP with a particular focus on Colorado’s students, which aligns with the Governor’s proposed Roadmap to Make College More Affordable.

Support Colorado’s Emergency Food Providers and Local Producers

Colorado’s low-income families, agricultural sector and local food systems will all benefit from increased funding, on an annual basis, for the Food Pantry Assistance Grant. This legislation will ensure more Colorado families have access to the nutritious food needed to reach their full potential and provide a critical revenue source for our local farmers, ranchers and producers.

The Colorado Food Pantry Assistance Grant provides funds for food pantries and food banks to purchase high quality produce, meat and dairy from Colorado Proud farmers and ranchers. The first year of the program (2018) was a great success, with $500,000 in grants awarded to 94 food pantries and food banks across the state. The allocated funding, however, did not come close to fulfilling the nearly $3 million in funding applications. And despite the documented need, the state only allocated $100,000 in 2019.

Expand Additional Healthy Food Incentive Programs

Our state needs to stand behind proven programs like Double Up Food Bucks and the Produce Box Program that are a win-win for hungry Colorado families and rural producers throughout the state. These health incentive programs are proven to support positive health and food security outcomes because they allow consumers to purchase more healthy foods.

Double Up Food Bucks can quintuple the number of SNAP participants shopping at farmers markets by providing a dollar-to-dollar match (up to $20) for using these funds to purchase healthy foods at the market.

The Produce Box Program purchases community supported agriculture shares (CSAs) from farmers to provide food for families with low incomes. In 2019, this program purchased over 500 farm shares from Colorado producers.

Want to help make these policies a reality? Join us on Hunger Action Day (3/4/2020) and join our action network to get updates!