Federal law strips food support from thousands of refugees and human trafficking victims in Kansas

President Donald Trump holds up the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," which removed food support for many immigrants who re living legally in the United States. More than 4,000 refugees, human trafficking victims and other immigrants living in Kansas lost benefits. (Photo by Alex Brandon - Pool/Getty Images)

TOPEKA — The Trump administration in January cut off 36 people who were bound for Kansas when it canceled travel plans for refugees who planned to relocate to the United States.

Months later, cuts in aid through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act continue to eliminate needed food services for immigrants living in Kansas.

One refugee was a mother waiting to join her family, which had immigrated without her because she was pregnant and unable to travel, said Yeni Silva-Renteria, executive director of International Rescue Committee in Wichita.

Today, that mother still awaits approval to reunite with her husband and children who live in Wichita, she said.

“Now she’s stuck,” Silva-Renteria said. “People come to the office all the time, asking when is my son coming, when is my wife coming, and we cannot answer that at this moment. People are going through a lot of stress right now, and it’s very difficult. This world right now, especially within resettlement and within the immigration system — I’ve never experienced this much stress.”

That stress ramped up when new regulations for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program went into effect in November.

Many immigrants who had previously received SNAP support for food and Temporary Assistance to Need Families, or TANF, were kicked off the programs, including human trafficking victims and refugees, Silva-Renteria said. 

Silva-Renteria stressed that anyone in the country illegally was never able to receive those government dollars, as is often erroneously reported.

Refugees, who often have been living in refugee camps for years before they are approved for relocation, usually receive a work permit and a Social Security card and, typically, eligibility for programs like SNAP to help them as they adjust to their new lives, she said.

SNAP and TANF are especially important when refugees first arrive in the country, Silva-Renteria said.

“The expectation is that within 90 days they’ll obtain a job,” she said. “Within the systems, we know that they’re not going to be self-sufficient within 90 days. Especially in Kansas, day care is a challenge, transportation is a challenge, the language barrier.”

It doesn’t mean that they’re not working, she said, or that they’re taking advantage of the system.

“There is an investment that we provide to those families until they get on their feet,” Silva-Renteria said. “These are people who have been at refugee camps for several years and have endured a lot of trauma. Some of them are the only survivors in their family. That support is critical for them because there’s no other way they’re going to make it without relying on that assistance.”

 

Eliminating support

Federal law previously allowed certain categories of noncitizen residents, such as refugees and human trafficking victims, to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, said Erin La Row, spokeswoman for the Department for Children and Families.

“In state fiscal year 2025, the average number of legal non-citizen residents receiving Kansas SNAP benefits per month was 9,483,” she said.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act changed eligibility, limiting it to U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents, Cuban and Haitian entrants and Compact of Free Association citizens, which is an agreement between the United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau, La Row said.

Beginning Nov. 1, 4,039 individuals in the state were no longer eligible to receive benefits, although the loss of those benefits may not occur until DCF processes a review of their case, La Row said. SNAP requires recertification case reviews to be done within the next six to 12 months, La Row said.

La Row said DCF couldn’t be certain who would lose benefits until each case was reviewed, so after Nov. 1, all applications, reviews or other changes would be verified through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system, called SAVE.

“Any family that is no longer eligible to receive benefits will be notified once that review has taken place,” she said. “Additionally, we are working with the International Rescue Committee to determine how best to notify families, as that is the entity that engages with the majority of the population losing their eligibility for these benefits.”

 

The fallout

Silva-Renteria said her organization is doing its best to work with immigrant families as their assistance disappears.

“We’re doing a lot of outreach and communicating with the families. They have to understand this new change and see what that means for them,” she said.

IRC is connecting families with community resources and also using donations to its organization for food and other types of assistance.

Their work happens amid the organization’s own federal grant losses, including the shutdown of a grant funding its resettlement program that forced the layoff of 11 people in February.

“We have minimized our expenses as much as we can to prioritize direct services and support to the families,” Silva-Renteria said. “There’s only so much we can do.”

She and her staff have watched as immigrants have been vilified across the country, including online discussions and political comments after an Afghani immigrant shot two National Guard members.

Cautious about being misunderstood, Silva-Renteria said she doesn’t support violence in any way, but she knows that one person’s actions don’t speak for their entire immigrant communities.

“We do need a lot of support, obviously financially but also understanding and awareness that we’re dealing with people,” she said. “We’re dealing with families, children who deserve a safe space, a home, a place. Unfortunately right now, even within our community in Wichita, some of them may not feel as welcome or as safe just because of the climate.”