If money is tight, there is help with food. Some help is open to everyone. Government programs have rules about immigration status that changed in 2025 and 2026, so check before you apply.
Food banks and pantries (open to most people)
A food pantry gives free groceries. A food bank supplies many pantries. Churches, mosques, temples, schools and community centers run them.
Call 211 or search "food pantry near me". Your university may have a free campus pantry.
Check the hours and what to bring. Some ask for your address or ID. Many do not ask about immigration status.
Bring bags. You may get canned food, rice, bread, fruit and sometimes meat or milk.
Community meals (free hot meals) are also common. Food from a pantry or community meal is charity, not a government benefit.
SNAP gives a monthly amount on a card (EBT card) to buy food in stores. Since a 2025 federal law, SNAP is limited to:
US citizens and US nationals.
Green card holders. Most adults must wait 5 years after getting the green card, unless an exception applies. Children under 18 do not wait.
Cuban and Haitian entrants, and certain people from the Freely Associated States (Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Palau).
Refugees, asylees and parolees who do not have a green card are no longer eligible under this law. Some of these rules are being challenged in court, so ask your state SNAP office or a legal aid group for the current rule. Students, workers, spouses and visitors on temporary visas are not eligible.
A household can include people who are eligible and people who are not. For example, US-citizen children can get SNAP even if their parents cannot. Only the eligible members are counted for benefits.
WIC gives healthy food, formula and nutrition advice to people who are pregnant, recently gave birth or breastfeeding, and children under 5, with limited income. WIC does not require a specific immigration status. Apply at your local WIC office, often through the county health department.
A new public charge rule took effect on September 18, 2026. Immigration officers may now consider more types of means-tested benefits, received on or after that date, when someone applies for a green card or certain other immigration benefits. DHS did not publish a full list of benefits that count. Refugees and asylees are not subject to the public charge test when they apply for a green card.
Before you or your family apply for a government benefit, and if you plan to apply for a green card later, talk to an accredited representative or immigration lawyer (see the guide on finding legal help). See also the guide on public benefits and public charge.
Thinking you cannot use a food pantry because you are new. Most pantries help anyone who asks.
Applying for SNAP based on old rules from 2024 or earlier. They changed.
Giving false information on any benefit form. It can cause serious immigration problems.