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Categories Politics

USDA Imposes New Verification Rules on Food Stamps to Tackle Exploitation by Illegals

April 26, 2025

The Trump administration is taking a hardline stance against illegal immigrants exploiting food stamps, issuing strict new guidance to state agencies to ramp up identity and immigration verification.

On Thursday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Acting Deputy Under Secretary John Walk directed states running the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to tighten the screws on fraud.

The Department of Agriculture’s new rules demand states use more reliable documents to confirm identity, crack down on fake Social Security numbers, and fully utilize the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system—provided free by DHS. States are also urged to adopt stricter identification processes and conduct more in-person interviews.

A memo from Acting Deputy Under Secretary Walk noted, “By law, only United States citizens and certain lawfully present aliens may receive SNAP benefits. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193) established that “aliens within the Nation’s borders not depend on public resources to meet their needs.” SNAP is not and has never been available to illegal aliens.”

“To ensure that tax dollars do not fund SNAP benefits to illegal aliens or other ineligible aliens, State agencies should carefully examine their identity and immigration status verification practices and make necessary enhancements.”

The agency is directed to do at a minimum:

  • Verify identity of the applicant (i.e., the intended beneficiary is who they claim to be)
    and should do so before proceeding to confirm immigration status;
  • Collect and verify social security numbers (SSNs) for all household members applying
    for SNAP benefits;
  • Compare SSNs to the Social Security Agency’s Death Master File and also use any
    available information to confirm the SSN belongs to the person who submits it as his or her own.
  • Query the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system for all alien applicants and complete all additional verification steps prompted by SAVE before determining that the individual meets the qualifying status requirements. State agencies are advised of a letter to Governors from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that SAVE is now available at no cost and encouraging its use to confirm benefit eligibility;
  • Collect immigration documents intended to show qualifying status during the initial application process rather than wait for a prompt from SAVE;
  • Pursuant to 7 C.F.R. 273.2(f)(2)(i), and prior to certification of the household, verify United States citizenship for any applicant for whom there is an indicia that the applicant’s claim to United States citizenship (whether natural born, naturalized, acquired, or derivative) is questionable through, at a minimum, use of the SAVE system. States are advised DHS has established a mechanism to process a SAVE inquiry without the use of a unique DHS identifier for applicants that claim natural born United States citizenship.

Secretary Rollins shared that, at her direction, the USDA has taken action to ensure illegal aliens DO NOT receive federal benefits paid for by hardworking American taxpayers.”

“President Trump has made it crystal clear: American taxpayers won’t foot the bill for illegal aliens,” Rollins declared.

“We are stewards of taxpayer dollorars and it is our duty to ensure states confirm the identity and verify the immigration status of SNAP applicants.”

“USDA’s nutrition programs are intended to support the most vulnerable Americans. To allow those who broke our laws by entering the United States illegally to received these benefits is outrageous.”

In September 2024, a Government Accountability Office report exposed $10.5 billion in improper food stamp payments in 2023—12% of the total—partly due to lax identity and eligibility checks.

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