Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition Releases Reference Guide on Immigrants’ Access to Public Benefits in Recently Passed Reconciliation Bill 

By Kayla Blackwell, NLIHC Housing Policy Analyst  

The Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition (PIF) released a new reference guide to provide advocates with an easy-to-read chart and timeline illustrating the major changes passed in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA), clearly defining the law’s impacts on immigrants’ access to public benefits and economic supports. Though HUD housing assistance was not directly changed, the bill will impact other vital safety net programs that people with low incomes rely on to help make ends meet, including Medicaid and SNAP, with devastating impacts for immigrants and immigrant communities.  

The OBBBA passed using a partisan method called budget reconciliation and was signed into law on July 4. The PIF resource clearly breaks down which public benefit programs included immigrant access changes and how immigrant families will be impacted. For example, OBBBA severely limited eligibility among many lawfully present immigrants for nutrition assistance, child tax credit, higher education, and healthcare, including healthcare provided through the “Affordable Care Act” (ACA), Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Specifically, OBBBA terminated SNAP eligibility for many lawfully present immigrants, including humanitarian immigrants. The new PIF resource lists current policy, the effective date of the new OBBBA policy, and an implementation timeline for the new policies so immigrant communities can see when these changes will take effect.   

View the resource here.