Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
Participation in SNAP is limited to individuals who live in
the United States and who are U.S. citizens or are otherwise eligible per the
criteria below. The department will determine eligibility for non-citizens in
accordance with 7 CFR
273.2 and
7 CFR
273.4. No individual is eligible to
participate in SNAP unless that individual is otherwise eligible and is:
B. A U.S. non-citizen national;
C. An individual who is:
(1) a member of Hmong or Laotian tribe during
the Vietnam era, when the tribe militarily assisted the U.S.; (including a
spouse, surviving spouse, or child of tribe member) who are lawfully present in
the U.S.;
(2) an American Indian
born in Canada who possesses at least fifty percent of blood of the American
Indian race to whom the provisions of section 289 of the Immigration and
Nationality Act apply; or a member of an Indian tribe as defined at section
4(e) of 25 U.S.C.
450b(e) which is recognized
as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the U.S. to
Indians because of their status as Indians; or
(3) a victim of human trafficking and their
derivative beneficiaries, in accordance with
7 CFR
273.4(a)(5);
or
D. A qualified
immigrant meeting the criteria in Subsection D, Paragraph (2) below:
(1) A qualified immigrant is a:
(a) lawful permanent resident;
(b) refugee;
(c) asylee;
(d) person granted withholding of deportation
or removal;
(e) conditional
entrants, (in effect prior to April 1, 1980);
(f) person paroled into the U.S. for at least
one year;
(g) Cuban/Haitian
entrants;
(h) battered spouses and
children with a pending or approved self-petition for an immigrant visa and
whose need for benefits has a substantial connection to the battery or cruelty
(including qualified parents, spouses, and children of same), or battered
spouses and children with an application for cancellation of removal or
suspension of deportation, and whose need for benefits has a substantial
connection to the battery or cruelty (including qualified parents, spouses, and
children of same).
(2)
Qualified immigrants are eligible only if they:
(a) were 65 or older and were lawfully
residing in the U.S. on August 22, 1996, or
(b) are under age 18, or
(c) have been in "qualified" immigrant status
for at least five years, or
(d) are
lawful permanent residents who have worked or can be credited with 40
qualifying quarters of employment, or
(e) were granted refugee or asylum status or
withholding of deportation/removal; or
(f) are a Cuban/Haitian entrant, or Amerasian
immigrant, or
(g) are receiving
blindness or disability-related assistance or
(h) are a veteran, active duty military; or
the spouse, or the surviving spouse who has not married, or the
child.
(i) are in Iraqi or Afghan
special immigrant status.
E. Verification of immigrant status is
determined in accordance with 7 CFR 273.2(f) and
reasonable opportunity is provided pursuant to
7 CFR
273.2(f)(1)(c).
F. Reporting undocumented aliens:
(1) HSD shall inform the local DHS office
only when an official determination is made that any individual who is applying
for or receives benefits is present in the U.S. in violation of the INA. An
official determination that an undocumented immigrant is in the U.S. in
violation of the INA is only made when:
(a)
the undocumented alien's unlawful presence is a finding of fact or conclusion
of law that is made by HSD as part of a formal determination about the
individual's eligibility; and
(b)
HSD's finding is supported by a determination by DHS or the executive office of
immigration review (EOIR) that the non-citizen is unlawfully residing in the
US, such as a final order of deportation.
(2) A systematic alien verification for
entitlements (SAVE) response showing no service record on an individual or an
immigration status making the individual ineligible for a benefit is not a
finding of fact or conclusion of law that the individual is not lawfully
present.
(3) Undocumented immigrant
status is considered reported when ISD enters the information about the
non-citizen into the household's computer file.
(4) When a household indicates inability or
unwillingness to provide documentation of immigrant status for any household
member, HSD must classify that member as an ineligible immigrant. When a person
indicates inability or unwillingness to provide documentation of immigrant
status, HSD must classify that person as an ineligible immigrant. In such cases
HSD must not continue efforts to obtain that documentation.