Memo: 353,000 Refugees on Food Stamps

More than 350,000 refugees in the United States are on food stamps, according the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

In a memo to the Senate Judiciary Committee released Thursday but dated April 14, CRS offers data on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)–or food stamps–and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) use among refugees. It also provided refugee benefit usage statistics for medical assistance, cash assistance and public housing.

In Fiscal Year 2013, there were about 353,000 refugees on SNAP. As of December 2014, 55,000 refugees, asylees, and other similar populations receiving payments from SSI, the memo reveals.

CRS provided a table looking at welfare use among all refugees who had arrived within the past five years. In 2013, 56 percent were receiving Medicaid or Refugee Medical Assistance, 47.1 percent were on “any type of cash assistance,” 74.2 percent were on food stamps, and 22.8 percent were in public housing.

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