July 24, 2024

We are excited to acknowledge a milestone in supporting food security for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community: the restoration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for people residing in the U.S. from Compact of Free Association (COFA) nations —which include the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau.

This is long overdue.

Citizens of the three nations are allowed to work in the U.S. as legal residents, but since the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in 1996, they had been denied the opportunity to receive food benefits through SNAP.  which improves food security and health.[1]

Marshallese Americans face particularly high food insecurity rates. One estimate finds that over 80 percent of Marshallese Americans struggle with food insecurity.[2]

U.S. nuclear testing on the Marshall Islands during  the Cold War radically changed environmental conditions, disrupted traditional foodways, and exposed the islands to hazardous radiation. As a result, many islanders were displaced to the U.S. and continue to be vulnerable to chronic disease.[3] COFA nations’ unique status is in part due to this tragic history and provides even more reasons for why migrants from COFA nations should be able to benefit from SNAP.

Benefits restoration for COFA migrants was a bipartisan provision of the fiscal year 2024 supplemental federal budget.[4] Unlike other noncitizens  applying for SNAP, there will be no five-year waiting period for COFA citizens in the U.S. to receive benefits. [5] For the nearly 100,000 COFA citizens living in the U.S., access to SNAP can help them to improve their health and economic security.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service has released guidance  for implementation and best practices, including contacting COFA citizens whose SNAP applications were previously denied.[6]

FRAC looks forward to states beginning to put into practice this long-awaited SNAP expansion as soon as possible so that eligible Compact of Free Association nationals living in the U.S. can get the food they need to live and thrive.

[1] The Compacts of Free Association, Congressional Research Service (April 25, 2024) https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12194#

[2] Kellams L, How Federal Policy Made Hunger Worse: Inequity for Marshallese Migrants in the Food Safety Net, Arkansas Advocates for Children (August 24, 2023) https://www.aradvocates.org/wp-content/uploads/MI-SNAP-report.webfinal.8.24.23.pdf

[3] Weiker A, What’s at Stake for COFA Migrants in the United States as COFA Negotiations Continue, East-West Center (March 3, 2023) https://asiamattersforamerica.org/articles/whats-at-stake-for-cofa-migrants-in-the-united-states-as-cofa-negotiations-continue

[4] Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, https://www.congress.gov/118/bills/hres1061/BILLS-118hres1061eh.pdf

[5] Johnston M, SNAP Provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, U.S. Department of Agriculture, July 12, 2024, https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/consolidated-appropriations-act-cofa-memo

[6] Johnston M, SNAP Provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, U.S. Department of Agriculture, July 12, 2024, https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/consolidated-appropriations-act-cofa-memo