Refugees among thousands of North Dakotans losing SNAP benefits amid federal changes

That included refugees, who make up the bulk of Global Refuge’s clients. The nonprofit organization works with the U.S. government to help resettle refugees and other newcomers to the U.S.

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Azizi said the loss of SNAP has left a mark on his clients.

“Sometimes, when I go (to their homes), I see and I feel it, that it’s really hard for a mom or a dad — they have children and they do not have nutritious food in their home,” he said. “That creates an anxiety in their minds.”

As a case manager, Azizi works with individuals and families navigating physical or mental health problems, immigration issues and other challenges. He said many of his clients have lost SNAP, including at least five families “which are really needy.”

The North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services, which administers the state’s SNAP program, estimated that around 1,000 noncitizens would lose food benefits in North Dakota under the new law, according to Rebecca Askins, interim director for the department’s Economic Assistance Section.

They’re not the only ones. Another estimated 5,600 North Dakotans are expected to lose SNAP due to stricter work requirements for “able-bodied adults without dependents” that were included in the 2025 law. 

For several decades, SNAP has had a time limit work requirement for some groups, meaning applicants who meet certain criteria were required to work for at least 80 hours a month in order to qualify for SNAP benefits, according to a report from the Brookings Institution. 

That requirement previously applied to people between ages 18 and 54 who were physically and mentally able to work and didn’t have dependents under the age of 18. Now, the age limit has been raised to 64 and the maximum dependent age has been reduced to 14. 

That expands the number of adults who must now log at least 80 hours a month working, attending job training, going to school, caregiving or volunteering in order to keep their benefits. 

Those who don’t fulfill the requirements will lose their benefits after three months. Unless they reapply after fulfilling the requirements or citing another exemption, they will not be able to get SNAP benefits for three years, at which time they’ll be able to access them for another three months before the cycle repeats.

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Askins said the department expects a 10% enrollment drop as a result of the federal changes. The full impact of the changes isn’t yet known because households are only impacted when their benefits come up for recertification, which happens throughout the year.

During a budget committee meeting June 24, Askins told state lawmakers that between April 2025 and April 2026, the number of North Dakotans on SNAP dropped 4.3% from just below 56,900 to less than 54,400. 

Askins told the Monitor that enrollment will likely tick up again in the coming months as people begin working part time or apply under a new exemption.

In the meantime, she said the changes have caused some confusion among applicants, but the number of applications being submitted has remained steady. 

For those who see their benefits cut or reduced under federal changes, Askins said economic assistance staff generally try to refer households to food banks and other local resources.

The Great Plains Food Bank serves North Dakota and Clay County in Minnesota. The food bank and its partners across the state have seen growing demand for food over the last several years, according to Darby Njos, a food bank spokesperson.

In its last fiscal year, the food bank served more than 186,000 people, a 16% increase and a new record for the organization, according to previous Monitor reporting.

Njos said it’s difficult to pinpoint which factors are most responsible for the increase, but many who rely on the food bank say they’re struggling with rising grocery prices and sometimes have to choose between paying for bills and paying for food.

The food bank also offers staff outreach services to help residents apply for SNAP. Njos said demand for the service hasn’t gone up since the federal changes went into effect, but “it definitely has shifted.”

She said that before, applicants asked questions about how to apply or how the application process worked, but now, they mostly ask whether they qualify or if it’s even worth applying given the new restrictions.

‘Doing our best to sustain our families’ 

For his clients at Global Refuge, Azizi said food pantries are “kind of the only source” of food now that SNAP restrictions are tighter for noncitizens.

But they can also be hard to access for those without transportation, so Azizi said he, other Global Refuge staff and volunteers either drive families to a nearby pantry or pick up food and drop it off at their home.

Pantries also only cover the basics. Azizi said many families miss the fresh or culturally significant ingredients they used to be able to buy at the grocery store when they had SNAP. 

Other than food pantries, Global Refuge’s clients are able to grow food in a community garden run by the organization, according to Dan Hannaher, Global Refuge’s North Dakota field director. They also sometimes get support from local ethnic community-based organizations.

Beyond that, he said, they often rely on donations from the broader community.

“Congregations come forward to help and assist with anything they can do to sustain a family’s food and nutrition needs,” he said. “So while it’s certainly a struggle, it’s something the community seems to be coming forward with, and we’re doing our best to sustain our families.”

Azizi said the change came as a shock for many of his clients who had been brought to the U.S. by the government through its refugee resettlement program. 

“(When) they come here, we provide for them an extended cultural orientation,” he said. “We say, ‘In this country, people are helpful. People are kind. The community is good. Peace is here. There is no way that you should not have food here.’”

That message contrasts with refugees’ recent experience, he said.

“They say, ‘This is the first time in history that we hear (of) a country which spends billions and billions of dollars on stuff but cuts food for their own people that they brought here,’” he said.

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