The latest draft of a proposal by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security could make it harder for immigrant families who rely on free or reduced-price lunches to be approved for green cards and other legal-status changes, The Notebook reports.
A leaked draft of the proposal obtained by the Washington Post indicates that the department is making changes to its public charge doctrine that would allow caseworkers to consider immigrant families’ benefits when approving green cards and other shifts in legal standing.
Currently, the doctrine only prevents immigrants who personally receive cash benefits and/or costly services from receiving legal-status changes. The new draft, however, would expand the doctrine to include any federally funded noncash benefits such as Medicaid, SNAP and others. While the federally funded school lunch program is not specifically cited, previous drafts of the proposal included language that exempted the lunch program. That language has been omitted in the latest draft.
The policy has not been officially announced and is still being worked on. Homeland Security officials say its final version is expected to be released at some point this year. In partnership with Technomic’s Operator Community Panel, FoodService Director asked operators around the country to share their thoughts on the proposal. Here are some of their responses.
“We have all seen the pictures, either in the news or in advertisements or announcements. A hungry, malnourished child is looking up at us, asking us for our help, and we are encouraged to take some kind of action (send money, make a phone call, write a letter, etc.). What a terrible shame it would be to see this happening in our American neighborhoods and schools. There have been so many states taking action to reduce lunch shaming and feed all kids regardless of circumstances that this action seems to run contrary to the overall legislation. There have always been things in life that I am willing to ‘get into trouble’ for doing. Feeding hungry children is one of them.”
Sally Spero
Child Nutrition Director
Lakeside Union School District
Lakeside, Calif.
“I would see this as a very problematic situation, as 82% of our student population is made up of disadvantaged Hispanics trying to get an education in Los Angeles communities. We operate a private/charter school in South Central Los Angeles, where the census is 87% Hispanic and the meals distributed for free have reached 89%.”
William Sprockett
Food Service Director
K-12 charter school
“This is not something we are keeping an eye on in the very northwest corner of Minnesota, with a population of 90% white and the unemployment rate in some areas at 2.5%. However, I would agree with the proposal as an attempt to make sure that those persons entering the United States can be self-supporting. We have way too many natural-born citizens that are not trying to be self-supporting. That being said, our school lunch eligibility is set at 135% of the poverty level. Many of the jobs that I see immigrants taking are lower-paying jobs—those jobs that our natural-born citizens are not willing to do now, such as spending back-breaking hours in the hot sun picking tomatoes or cleaning toilets in hotel rooms. The school benefits any family that is working and qualifies for its help to stabilize them in our community.”
Rhonda Amundson
Food Service Supervisor
Thief River Falls Public Schools ISD #564
Thief River Falls, Minn.
“‘The New Colossus’: ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’ Nowhere does it say anything about immigration status. Instead of scaring and embarrassing families, it’s time to invest in universal feeding. All children would receive free breakfast and lunch, like they do their textbooks. This would ensure that all children would receive nourishing meals, it would help to eliminate fraud and it would reduce tons of paperwork for directors. This could actually save a district money.”
Janet Sklar
Chair of School Nutrition and Education
Suffolk County Food Policy Council
Smithtown, N.Y.
*Some operators quoted in this article are members of Technomic’s Operator Community Panel. If you are interested in participating in similar opportunities or foodservice research studies, join this exclusive community today.
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