Spotlight on Food Assistance in NYC: Food pantry use spikes among non-U.S. citizens amid changing immigration rules
Food assistance programs like public benefits and private emergency food assistance play major roles in helping New Yorkers have enough to eat. However, preliminary findings show that in 2021, New Yorkers from all walks of life continued to struggle paying for food. These findings show a decrease in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation among non-citizens in New York City relative to citizens who were not affected by the Trump-era immigration rule changes. Even after the Biden administration later reversed this ruling, people may be unaware of its reversal or afraid to use benefits. In the wake of the new public charge rule, non-citizen New Yorkers using food pantries has increased substantially.
Key Findings:
In 2021, 30% of New York City adults faced food hardship and 6% faced severe food hardship.
These data also show that 4 in 10 families with children faced food hardship and 1 in 10 faced severe food hardship.
As the Trump administration began discussing changing immigration laws to include SNAP among the list of benefits that could deem someone a “public charge” (a non-citizen who receives government benefits), SNAP enrollment among non-U.S. citizens in New York City decreased by 6% compared to 2017 — double the decrease among citizens (3%).
Food pantry use among low-income, non-citizen New Yorkers increased from 17% to 30% compared to food pantry use among low-income citizen adults, which increased from 18% to 24% after the Trump administration began moving to include SNAP in the definition of benefits that could deem someone a “public charge”.
Food pantries partially compensated for this “chilling effect” and represented a critical lifeline for non-citizen New Yorkers especially during a time of great economic challenges.
The Poverty Tracker is a longitudinal study of the dynamics of poverty and disadvantage in New York City.
It is a joint project of Robin Hood and Columbia University.