FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Mike Altfest, media@accfb.org
Liz Sommer, media@accfb.org
Hayley Gammill, hayley@wavelengthcommunications.com, 213-523-0708
Alameda County Community Food Bank and Food4All Coalition co-hosts emergency press conference addressing alarming cuts to nutrition benefits for refugees, asylees, and other humanitarian immigrants
72,000 Californians to lose access to CalFresh (SNAP) starting April 1 due to H.R. 1
OAKLAND, Calif - April 1, 2026 - California will begin enacting a new immigrant exclusion from food benefits programs as a result of the Trump Administration's H.R. 1. As a result of the federal passage of H.R. 1, states are now required to deny Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP) assistance to refugees, asylees, and other humanitarian immigrants. The California Department of social Services (CDSS) estimates that 72,000 CalFresh recipients will lose their monthly food assistance as a result of this change to SNAP eligibility rules.
These new exclusions will propel the hunger crisis that we are experiencing across the country. Food banks are usually an emergency resources for those experiencing hunger, but have been forced to become staple sources of food as rising grocery prices and cuts to food benefit programs have decreased peoples' access to food. Regi Young, Executive Director of the Alameda County Community Food Bank, states "The challenge right now is huge. And the truth is that people are going to be the difference in ensuring that food for all is happening through Alameda County, throughout the East Bay, and throughout this country."
The Food4All Coalition urges Governor Newsom and California state leaders to mitigate the harm of these exclusions by making humanitarian immigrants impacted by H.R. 1 eligible for the state-funded California Food Assistance Program (CFAP). Additionally, they call on California leaders to not lose ground in the fight against hunger. The California legislature ahs made a commitment to expand CFAP to immigrants ages 55 and older, regardless of immigration status, by October 2027.
In response to the enacted food benefit exclusions, members of the Food4All coalition issued the following statements:
Benyamin Chao, Supervising Health & Public Benefits Policy Manager at the California Immigrant Policy Center
“The cut going into effect today is not happening in a vacuum. It pulls resources away from our survival and funnels our tax dollars into systems that terrorize immigrant communities. We all want to live without fear, including the fear of going hungry.”
Jackie Mendelson, Policy Advocate at Nourish California
“The cuts going into effect today are devastating for tens of thousands of our California neighbors and their loved ones. We don’t believe that any Californian, regardless of their age or immigration status, should be denied access to basic resources. A California where people remain fed is a better California for everyone. It is not a mistake that HR1 is forcing us to have these types of conversations about who will get a fighting chance to survive and thrive in our state. It is up to each of us, and particularly those elected to represent us, to make sure that we step up to support each other during these difficult times.”
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The Food4All coalition is a diverse, robust coalition of more than 100 anti-hunger, anti-poverty, immigrant rights, and grassroots organizations that are working together to bring an equitable food safety net that does not discriminate based on immigration status.
About Alameda County Community Food Bank
Alameda County Community Food Bank has been at the forefront of hunger relief efforts in the Bay Area since 1985. The Food Bank serves a community in which 1 in 4 residents experiences some level of food insecurity. The Food Bank’s core work includes distributing food through a network of approximately 400 food pantries, meal programs, and other community organizations, as well as direct distribution programs including school-based and home delivery distributions. This year, the Food Bank will distribute the equivalent of 48.8 million meals worth of food. In addition to its extensive emergency food programming, ACCFB’s hunger-relief efforts include California’s largest CalFresh (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) outreach department, anti-hunger advocacy, food as medicine, and food recovery and sustainability efforts. Alameda County Community Food Bank was named Feeding America’s Food Bank of the Year in 2016; is an accredited charity by the Better Business Bureau; and for 17 consecutive years has received Charity Navigator's top rating - Four Stars - ranking the organization among the top 1 percent of charities nationwide.
