Democratic lawmakers in Oregon want to make 60,000 immigrants eligible for cash food assistance
By Lynne Terry / Oregon Capital Chronicle
Published February 7, 2023 at 3:59 PM PST
In 2021, two Oregon nonprofits involved in food aid launched a campaign to extend food assistance to people excluded from federal food benefits.
As of Monday, about 75 other nonprofits have joined the Oregon Food Bank and Partners for a Hunger Free Oregon to back a proposal in the state Legislature. Senate Bill 610, sponsored by 17 Democratic lawmakers, including Wlnsvey Campos of Aloha and James Manning Jr. of Eugene, would distribute monthly payments to people who don’t qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Currently, more than 170,000 people in Oregon receive SNAP benefits, which will average about $270 a month per household starting next month. To qualify, individuals can earn up to $2,265 a month and a family of three can make up to $3,838 a month.
Undocumented immigrants are excluded, as are residents under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. And certain non-citizens have a waiting period before becoming eligible, according to the USDA.
The coalition backing the bill says more than 60,000 people in Oregon would qualify for SNAP if they had the proper residency documents.
Their exclusion is not right, Campos said.
https://www.ijpr.org/politics-government/2023-02-07/democratic-lawmakers-in-oregon-want-to-make-60-000-immigrants-eligible-for-cash-food-assistance
