Illinois reinstated food stamps for children and the elderly as of January 1998 but at a lower amount than prior federal benefits, and Texas reintroduced food stamps for only the elderly as of March 1998. To date, none of these states has appropriated funds for these legal immigrants for FY 1999. Other states with more generous policies, such as Massachusetts, have repeatedly indicated that they will not continue to replace the federal program in FY 1999. PHR believes that the discriminatory aspect of the food stamp cuts against individuals who are in the US legally and who pay taxes constitutes a serious human rights violation. Rubenstein called the Food Stamp Program the essential thread that binds the safety net of public benefits and urged Congress to enact full restoration of the Food Stamp Program to this vulnerable population.
Several studies demonstrate that food stamps are essential in the fight to end food insecurity.
Poor children in households receiving food stamps are better nourished than poor children in households that don't receive them. Food stamp recipients receive more nutrients for every dollar's worth of food. As part of its study PHR also conducted two focus groups with legal Latino immigrants and legal Vietnamese immigrants in Massachusetts to understand the impact of food stamp cuts in individual families. Following one entire month without food stamps, a Latino woman at the Massachusetts focus group told PHR how she and her two young children were forced to rummage through garbage cans in search of food. Others described their anguish at having to reduce their children's food, and described being forced to skip meals.