No, SNAP Benefits Aren’t Mostly Used by Immigrants

As roughly 42 Millions of Americans face food stamp losses this weekend. Far-right influencers, ExtremistAnd Conspiracy theorists Using the crisis to push racist misinformation about who gets these benefits.

As a result of the government shutdown, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will not be funded starting Nov. 1, according to a message on the website of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which administers the program. While the loss of this facility may have been catastrophic for millions of people, it did not stop the confusion. Many conspiracy theorists and right-wing influencers are claiming that immigrants are the main recipients of food stamps, while AI-generated videos on TikTok push racist stereotypes of black people demanding more benefits.

These claims are inconsistent with the reality that, according to the data, the majority of SNAP beneficiaries are white Americans. Collected by USDA. The data also shows that deep-red states like Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana have the highest percentage of food stamp recipients.

“These narratives are being promoted that ineligible groups are receiving the majority of SNAP benefits and therefore may perceive the suspension of SNAP benefits as a crisis,” said Tracy Roof, a political scientist at the University of Richmond. “The reality is that the vast majority of SNAP recipients are people born in the United States, and many have children in their families or are elderly or disabled. Of those who are able to work, most do.”

A chart posted by an influential far-right X account with the screen name “The General” adds to this conspiracy theory, suggesting that the vast majority of people receiving benefits are non-white immigrants, with Afghan, Somali, and Iraqi US residents among the top three recipients. The chart, which was originally published in June on a website called Personal Finance Wizards, According to PolitiFactTotal fabrication. USDA does not collect the ethnicity of SNAP recipients outside of broad categories such as White, African American, and Hispanic.

USDA data show that nearly 90 percent of SNAP recipients are American-born citizens. 1.1 percent of recipients are refugees, and 3.3 percent are other noncitizens

The general’s post has been viewed 6.3 million times and widely shared by others, including influential right-wing podcaster Matt Walsh, who quoted the post on X and wrote: “We import the third world and force working class Americans at gunpoint to feed and house them. Civilization suicide.” Other posts sharing the chart have been shared hundreds of thousands of times X did not respond to requests for comment.