New DHS Rule Will Count SNAP, WIC, and School Meals Against Immigrant Families
On July 20th, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is scheduled to publish a rule change that will reshape how public charge determinations are made for lawfully present immigrants seeking permanent status in the US. Public charge is an immigration standard that allows the government to deny a green card or visa to someone it believes is likely to become dependent on public benefits.
Hunger Free Washington is extremely disappointed by this rule change. It is yet another example of the federal administration walking away from social responsibility and making a penny-wise, pound-foolish decision.
Under the current public charge rule, instated in 2022, legal immigrants can access resources like Free School Meals, SNAP, and WIC without worrying that doing so will negatively impact their immigration case. It draws a clear, predictable line around what counts towards public charge and what doesn't.
The new rule erases that line. Starting on September 18th, nutrition programs like SNAP, WIC, and Free School Meals will count towards public charge determinations. And instead of a standardized checklist that spells out what does and doesn't count, this change leaves the decision up to the discretion of individual immigration officers, who can weigh any number of factors - such as public benefits use, age, family size, and disability status - to decide if a family is or will likely become a public charge. This lack of consistent protocol leaves far too much room for immigration officers to make subjective, biased decisions.
The last round of expanded public charge rules caused a broad chilling effect on the use of public benefits. Extensive research found that fear alone drove families out of programs they were legally entitled to use, dropping SNAP enrollment by as much as 37% among immigrant communities. Lots of these families include US-citizen children, which means public charge rules don't only impact immigrants – American kids also pay the cost.
This chilling effect directly increases hunger, homelessness, and poverty at large. It also has downstream community impacts, like worse nutrition and declining health outcomes, more uncompensated medical care landing on hospitals and taxpayers, lower educational attainment, and reduced productivity down the line.
DHS received 8,846 public comments on this proposed rule, and the vast majority opposed it. Health professionals, social service organizations, public health experts, and community advocates all said the same thing: we must protect immigrant families.
We urge DHS to listen to the people who work with these families every day. The evidence is clear. The voices are clear. What's missing is the willingness to act on either one.