SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Starting today, non-citizens will no longer be eligible for CalFresh benefits. Changes to federal rules cut them off from the money to pay for food. This will mean close to 13,000 people here in San Diego could lose their food benefits.
New federal rules are changing who qualifies for CalFresh, which has been a lifeline for people trying to make ends meet. The new rules starting today affect non-citizens. This includes refugees, asylum seekers and others who were eligible for the program.
But this will be a phased rollout. Those who are already enrolled can still use their CalFresh cards, but their benefits will be cut off when they recertify for the program.
For many families, that benefit means the difference between being able to put food on the table and skipping groceries altogether.
Local food banks like Feeding San Diego say they have already seen an increase of people asking for help because of the cost of living and inflation. With these CalFresh benefit changes, they're focused on helping those directly impacted.
"This is really potentially devastating for people who live on low incomes, you know, have relied on those benefits, need those benefits, and now all of a sudden are, you know, not going to have them and are going to have to fall into that nonprofit social safety net because the government's no longer going to be providing those benefits for them," said Carissa Casares of Feeding San Diego.
Officials with Feeding San Diego are urging people to update their information because some may still qualify if their immigration status has changed. But if you are in need of assistance, they say they don't have requirements and do not ask for citizenship status.
