CalFresh

It depends.  

HR 1, the 2025 federal budget reconciliation bill, made many changes to CalFresh eligibility for people who are not United States citizens.  Starting April 1, 2026, noncitizen eligibility for CalFresh is limited to:

• Noncitizen nationals
  • People born in American Samoa and Swain’s Island after December 21, 1952, or residents of the Northern Mariana Islands who choose not to become United States citizens
• Lawful Permanent Residents 
• Individuals who reside in the United States in accordance with a Compact of Free Association, or
• Cuban and Haitian Entrants.

The following previously eligible groups are no longer eligible, effective April 1, 2026. However, recipients can continue to receive benefits until their next recertification or semi-annual report after April 1, 2026, unless the county gets verification of their immigration status through a trusted source such as SAVE before their next recertification:

• Asylees;
• Refugees;
• Parolees (unless they are Cuban or Haitian Entrants); 
• Individuals in withholding of deportation or removal withheld; 
• Conditional entrants; 
• Trafficking victims (T-Visa holder); 
• Battered noncitizens (VAWA Visa holder);
• Certain Afghan Nationals granted parole between July 31, 2021, and September 30, 2023; 
• Certain Ukrainian Nationals granted parole between February 24, 2022, and September 30, 2024;
• Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrants
• Certain Hmong or Highland Laotians who are lawfully present in the United States, with their spouses and children;
• Certain cross-border American Indians with treaty rights to cross between Canada or Mexico and the United States;

Groups who were previously exempt from the 5-year waiting period for CalFresh eligibility who adjust their status to Lawful Permanent Resident, are immediately eligible without the 5-year waiting period

• Noncitizens admitted to the U.S. as refugees 
• Noncitizens granted asylum
• Noncitizens whose deportations were withheld 
  • Iraqis and Afghans with Special Immigrant Visas (SIV)
  • Certain Afghan Nationals Granted Parole Between July 31, 2021, and September 30, 2023
  • Certain Ukrainian Nationals Granted Parole Between February 24, 2022, and September 30, 2024
  • Noncitizens admitted to the United States as Amerasian immigrants
  • Victims of Trafficking
  • Certain Hmong or Highland Laotians who are lawfully present in the United States, with their spouses and children