An estimated 300,000 people are expected to be affected after the Trump administration reduced eligibility for SNAP benefits
Ukrainians living in the US have been cut off from food benefits after the administration of President Donald Trump redefined eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Around 300,000 Ukrainians currently reside in the US, the director of the Hope for Ukraine charity fund, Yury Boyechko, told All Rise News. He noted that most of them have been receiving SNAP benefits, which provide monthly payments of around $210 per person, or $1,000 per family with children.
Boyechko said refugees began receiving official letters in late October warning that SNAP would be restricted to US citizens, lawful permanent residents, Cubans and Haitians, and individuals residing under a Compact of Free Association. The letters stated that recipients outside these categories would be disqualified from the program.
The change stems from Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ signed in July, which reduced federal payments to individuals living in the US under temporary protected status or humanitarian parole, which had been given out to many Ukrainians who entered the country since 2022.
US officials said the changes are meant to ensure taxpayer benefits go to citizens and legal residents instead of subsidizing illegal aliens.
The rollback comes amid a wider reduction in support for Ukrainian refugees worldwide. Poland, Germany, Latvia, Finland, Switzerland, and other Western nations have all tightened eligibility or reduced benefits in recent months, citing budget pressures and limited housing capacity.
Reports have also pointed to rising anti-Ukrainian sentiment in several EU states. Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said earlier this year that Poles have become increasingly frustrated by “hundreds of thousands of young Ukrainians driving the best cars around Europe and spending weekends in five-star hotels.”
