C-010
SNAP noncitizen dollars are not backfilled with modeled estimates
Section 8 documents the eligibility framework and refuses unsupported benefit attribution by population share.
Section 8 - Version 1.0 LOCKED
Food Assistance
Eligibility structure and limits of SNAP attribution without unsupported noncitizen dollar estimates.
Audit contents — Section 8
Structured Verification
Trace this section from the data model.
Summary: Eligibility structure and limits of SNAP attribution without unsupported noncitizen dollar estimates.
Claims: 1
Claim links: C-010
Claims In This Section
Reviewers should be able to move from section to claim without leaving the generated evidence path.
Key findings
SNAP is the core food-assistance program examined in this section. Undocumented SNAP is counted as $0 because undocumented persons are ineligible. Citizen-child SNAP benefits are excluded under the citizen-child exclusion rule.
The audit does not model non-citizen SNAP benefit dollars from population share. The precise non-citizen benefit dollar amount is routed to Section 13 as a gap because primary records do not isolate the dollars by citizenship status.
No modeled share:
Using the non-citizen participant share to estimate dollars would manufacture certainty and risk sweeping in citizen-child benefits. The audit prohibits that move.
Table 8-1 — SNAP program totals; citizenship composition
| Item | Figure | FY | Number type | Class | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SNAP participants | 42.2M people/month (avg) | FY2023 | Caseload/Participation | A | High |
| SNAP total cost | $113.2B | FY2023 | Outlay (benefits + admin) | A | High |
| SNAP benefits | $107.1B | FY2023 | Outlay (benefits) | A | High |
| Authorized retailers / meal providers | 255,594 / 6,176 | FY2023 | Count | A | High |
8.2 Citizenship composition (primary) [S-074]
89.4% U.S.-born citizens; foreign-born <11% (6.2% naturalized citizens — out of scope; 1.1% refugees; 3.3% other noncitizens). Non-citizen participants ≈4–5% (~1.7M). 39% of participants are children. Most SNAP households with a non-citizen still include U.S.-citizen members.
Total A vs Total B
Total A is not isolable from primary records. The audit notes the non-citizen participant boundary but routes the dollar share to Section 13. Total B includes retailer capture because benefits are spent at authorized retailers. The federal government funds benefits while states administer the program.
Routed to Section 13 / excluded
WIC and the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs are routed to Section 13 because the required citizenship-condition information is not collected or not published in a usable federal spending breakout. Undocumented SNAP is excluded as ineligible; citizen-child SNAP benefits are excluded as citizen benefits.
Plain English Bottom Line
The audit does not claim a precise non-citizen SNAP dollar amount. It identifies eligibility rules and published participation boundaries, then stops where primary records stop. Food assistance is a real spending area, but the citizenship-status dollar breakout is not published cleanly enough to count without modeling.