The number of Texans receiving food assistance has seen a significant decline of 14% over the past year, mirroring a national trend. This drop is attributed not only to the stricter work requirements introduced last year by the previous administration but also to growing concerns about deportation among eligible families, according to advocates.
State statistics reveal that in April, nearly 500,000 eligible Texans were no longer participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) compared to April 2025. Enrollment numbers have been decreasing since October, following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which implemented several new restrictions on SNAP. By the end of April, Texas reported approximately 3.1 million eligible individuals enrolled in the program.
The largest decreases in participation were observed in the Gulf Coast, North, and South Texas regions, with SNAP enrollment dropping by between 10% and 20% in over two-thirds of Texas counties.
On a national scale, SNAP participation fell by 10%, equating to about 4 million fewer individuals, between July 2025 and February 2026, with every state experiencing a decline.
Celia Cole, the CEO of Feeding Texas, the state’s food bank association, noted, “Texas is facing a meaningful decline in SNAP enrollment,” a trend that has coincided with an uptick in demand for food assistance in recent months.
Determining the precise reasons behind this decline has proven challenging. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), responsible for administering SNAP benefits and publishing data ahead of the federal government, has not linked the decline to specific causes.
“Current SNAP caseloads are part of normal fluctuations,” stated HHSC spokesperson Jennifer Ruffcorn in an email earlier this month.
Since the pandemic, the number of Texans enrolled in SNAP has varied between 3 million and 4 million. Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture indicates that, apart from the partial government shutdown in 2019, the monthly SNAP count in Texas has not dipped below 3 million since 2009, marking the end of the Great Recession.
Although a stronger economy could correlate with a decrease in SNAP participation, federal labor statistics have shown no decline in Texas’ monthly unemployment rates since January 2025.
Experts, including Cole, suggest that two main factors may be contributing to the recent drop in enrollment. The first factor is the introduction of stricter work requirements for SNAP eligibility. While work requirements have always existed for certain applicants, significant changes were made last year under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Previously, parents caring for children under 18 were exempt from work requirements. However, as of December, parents and household members of dependent children aged 14 and older must now work a minimum of 30 hours per week or provide proof of exemption. This also applies to veterans, individuals aged 24 and younger who have recently exited foster care, and unhoused individuals.
Additionally, able-bodied individuals aged 18 to 65 who do not have dependents are now required to work or participate in a work program for at least 80 hours per month to maintain their benefits.
“The new work requirements cut people off SNAP after three months if they are unable to secure consistent employment,” Cole explained. “We are witnessing similar trends in other states, which reinforces our concerns that this issue is more about limited access than a decrease in need.”
Ruffcorn noted that the new work requirements would not account for any declines observed prior to March. Due to the three-month grace period for SNAP recipients to find work after the implementation of the new requirements in December, the state would not have begun to remove individuals from the program until March.
The second factor is the intensified immigration enforcement since the previous administration took office. While undocumented immigrants are ineligible for benefits, their U.S.-citizen children or household members may qualify for SNAP. Cole pointed out that some undocumented parents, fearing deportation, are opting not to seek assistance for their citizen children who may qualify for benefits.
At least 27 states, including Texas, have shared SNAP data with the federal Department of Homeland Security.
“We believe this decline is partly driven by fears related to immigration and the confusion among mixed-status families, leading eligible citizen children to lose access even when they qualify,” Cole added.
Moreover, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has further limited SNAP benefits for certain lawful permanent residents and U.S. citizens, excluding those granted conditional entry under U.S. asylum and refugee laws from participating in the program.
According to Lynn Cowles, director of Health and Food Justice for Every Texan, a left-leaning public policy organization, these combined developments—stricter work requirements and immigration-related fears—are significant contributors to the decline in SNAP participation in Texas.
<p“Suddenly, we are observing a sharp decline across the board,” Cowles remarked. “It seems to defy explanation by any other factors.”
Even before the recent restrictions, Texas had a reputation for maintaining a more challenging enrollment process for SNAP. The state is one of only nine that requires SNAP applicants without a job or who cannot claim an exemption from work rules to participate in mandatory employment and training programs, known as “E&T,” administered by the Texas Workforce Commission for the HHSC.
Advocates for low-income Texans contend that the E&T program serves as a bureaucratic obstacle designed to remove entire families from the SNAP program. Many who enroll do not complete the program, which enables the state to penalize them by removing them from SNAP rolls. In fiscal year 2024, 245,703 eligible Texans who enrolled in the E&T program failed to complete it, resulting in their removal from SNAP.
In its self-evaluation prior to the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, the HHSC acknowledged that participation in the E&T program is below acceptable levels and that sanction rates are higher than desired.
Additionally, another potential factor affecting SNAP participation is a projected $700 million payment to the federal government in 2027 if Texas does not reduce its current error rate of 9% to 7%. This error rate does not indicate fraudulent benefit claims but reflects unintentional mistakes made by the agency or clients that lead to underpayments or overpayments.
While the HHSC refrained from commenting on whether increased scrutiny of applications to reduce the error rate has impacted the processing of applications, it is evident that the approval rates for SNAP applications and renewals have declined each month this year. These rates had improved in 2025 after remaining at or below 75% for most months between 2022 and 2024.
“HHSC is working diligently to issue benefits to eligible Texans as quickly as possible,” stated Tiffany Young, another HHSC spokesperson. “We are currently analyzing data and determining strategies to reduce the backlog of applications.”
