September 8, 2019
6.2 Million Individuals Off Food Stamps Under Trump
by Katherine Rodriguez
Breitbart.com
More than 6.2 million individuals dropped off food stamps since President Donald Trump completed his first full month in office, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The most recent USDA data shows that 6,268,285 individuals discontinued their participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)— the program in charge of food stamps— since February 2017 when Trump finished his first month as president.
Individual and household food stamp participation has consistently declined since 2013 back when the Obama administration was in power and enrollment in the program reached its highest point in U.S. history.
After 2013, SNAP enrollment plunged once state legislatures passed laws requiring food stamp recipients to work, attend school, volunteer, or participate in job training for at least 20 hours per week to receive benefits.
Food stamp participation plummeted even further once President Trump took office, as 6.2 million individuals and 2.7 million households dropped out of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) since his first full month in office.
There are currently 36,029,506 individuals and 18,230,968 households enrolled in the food stamp program, but USDA officials said those numbers are “preliminary” due to the 2018 government shutdown, which affected food stamp administration at the beginning of 2019.
Trump has stated that he wants to curb the nation’s dependency on food stamps and wants those coming into the country to be self-sufficient.
The president told Breitbart News in an Oval Office interview that he does not want any immigrants coming into the U.S. to be dependent on welfare programs.
“I don’t want to have anyone coming in that’s on welfare,” Trump told Breitbart News in March.
The Trump administration also recently released several policies that would close loopholes for those taking advantage of the nation’s food stamp program.
The USDA issued a proposal in July that would close a “loophole” allowing 3.1 million people who already receive benefits from a non-cash welfare program to receive food stamps through SNAP.
The Trump administration also released a “public charge rule” last month which would deny green cards to immigrants or make it harder for them to obtain them if they have a history of using welfare benefits such as food stamps.
http://www.breitbart.com/economy/2019/09/08/6-2-million-individuals-off-food-stamps-under-trump/
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