Estimated # People Affected by Expansion of the FAP Program

Based on Removal of BOTH the August 22, 1996 Residency Restriction AND Making the Program Statewide

February 1, 2005

Author: Barbara Weiner| Kristin Brown Lilley

In the Spring of 2004 the Greater Upstate Law Project developed an estimate of the number individuals who would potentially be eligible for the Food Assistance Program if it did not exclude post-1996 immigrants was operated statewide. Data from several sources, including the census, USCIS statistics and USDA food stamp program participation reports were used to arrive at our estimates.

While A.11105 removes the residency restriction, it does not expand the program to every county, therefore, this estimate does NOT reflect the number of people who would gain access to the program if A.11105, (from the bills of 2004) were to be re-introduced and passed – that number would be significantly lower given the fact that currently, just 15 counties [1] and New York City are enrolled in FAP. We are in the process of updating our estimation to reflect the proposed legislation, but in the meantime, this memo provides a sense of the number of elderly and abused immigrants who be affected by removing the residency restriction.

With respect to survivors of domestic violence, the majority of those individuals would be self petitioners whom the Vermont Service Center of USCIS has found eligible for relief. In response to questioning, the Vermont Service Center, which processes the self petitions of immigrant victims of domestic violence, responded that it has approved about 4400 self petitions in each of the last 2 years. If New York, as is generally thought, is home to about 15 to 20 percent of the immigrants in the country, that means that roughly 600 to 700 self-petitions of New York residents were approved each year. If, as is unlikely, all these individuals used FAP benefits for the full 5 years before becoming eligible for federal food stamps, anywhere from three to four thousand immigrant survivors could be receiving FAP benefits at any given time. However, self-petitioners become eligible for work authorization usually within one year of filing their self-petition and our experience in representing these individuals shows that they do not tend to remain on benefits once they are able to work.

As for the elderly, approximately 8,000 elderly immigrants enter New York each year. About 20%, or 1600, have incomes that would make them eligible for food stamps. According to USDA figures, the participation rate of the eligible elderly is generally about 30%. Using these figures, a fair estimate of the maximum number of elderly participants in FAP at any given time would be 2400 people (1600 x 5 years x 30%). The actual number is likely to be smaller, however, because any elderly immigrant who is also disabled, as surely some number of these immigrants would be, is eligible for the federal food stamp program even during their first five years of residence.

End notes:

[1] Jefferson, Monroe, Nassau, Oneida, Onondaga, Orange, Otsego, Putnam, Rockland, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Suffolk, Tompkins, and Westchester Counties.