SALT LAKE CITY — At the beginning of July, more than 2,000 families with illegal immigrants stopped receiving food-stamp benefits due to a change in Utah’s rules. Now a growing number of them are showing up at emergency food pantries confused and needing help.
“But, of course, I have to feed my family,” said a mother of five who works as a housekeeper at a nursing home. The illegal immigrant is among those who recently lost food aid.
Earlier this year, the state announced it would begin to fully count the income earned by all members of a household when determining food-stamp eligibility. Previously, only a portion of illegal immigrants’ income was counted in the food-stamp calculation, due to limitations of an old computer system.
That meant, in some prior cases, that a family with several illegal immigrants might qualify for food stamps although a family of native Utahns making the same amount of money might not.
“We believe this is fair and equitable across the board to treat all people equally when it comes to calculating the benefits that people get when they apply for food stamps,” said Curt Stewart, a spokesman for the state Department of Workforce Services, which oversees the food-stamp program.
Despite the new rules, a blended family with children born in America and illegal-immigrant parents could still qualify for help if their income was low enough. The new computer-based eligibility system began July 1.
But the families who have showed up at a pantry at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Salt Lake City have not understood the bureaucratic changes and wonder if Americans are being given preference over them.
“I’m worried about running out of food,” said Lydia Herrera, the pantry director. “Everybody is complaining about that: ‘They cut my food stamps.’ “
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