The following are examples from of Massachusetts legally present immigrants who have been denied basic assistance over the past few years or who will lose their SNAP in the coming months.

A battered woman with an approved petition for status under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), is a client of Greater Boston Legal Services. She currently (October 2025) qualifies for SNAP as a “battered noncitizen” under federal rules. She applied to USCIS for her “green card” over 2 years ago, but her application remains stuck in a huge bureaucratic backlog. She has disabilities that leave her unable 3 to work. She currently receives SNAP benefits, which have been essential to putting food on the table, but in the coming months she will lose her eligibility for benefits as DTA implements the immigrant restrictions of the federal Republican Omnibus Bill, H.R. 1.

A Boston area woman - a victim of a violent crime - represented by Greater Boston Legal Services has a pending petition for a U visa. She has a work permit, but the wait to get the actual visa and later a green card will take many years. She works as a cleaner to support herself and her daughter, but she barely makes enough to cover her rent. She was grateful to receive some state-funded SNAP benefits when they were temporarily provided in 2024, but she is no longer eligible for any public assistance.

A homeless Colombian family. The mother entered the U.S. with Humanitarian Parole but, unlike Haitian parolees who qualify, she was denied benefits in 2023 because of her status. She reached out to La Colaborativa who helped her with periodic food cards, but that was not sustainable. Other families staying at the same shelter tried to share some of their food, but it was not enough. With few resources and far from any employment opportunities, she left and was staying with “someone she met.”

A mother and two children from Turkey who is living in Greater Boston asked Jewish Family and Children’s Services for help. The mother has had a pending application for political asylum since 2018 based on a very abusive relationship with her former partner in Turkey. The mother was granted work authorization and has been working two jobs to support her children, but her pay is too low to make ends meet. Her income is low enough to qualify for SNAP - but she is barred from SNAP because of her pending asylum status.

A family of three from Africa, working with Greater Boston Legal Services, entered the United States seeking medical care for their severely disabled young child. The child’s medical needs are so extensive, they have spent all their savings. The family was granted Deferred Action for purposes of the medical care, but are not eligible for SNAP or TAFDC benefits and do not know when they can return home.