About 9,000 people in Onondaga County, New York, are in food stamp cases that are set to close at their next recertification over the coming year. The county’s social services department says the affected households are those with refugees, asylees and other noncitizens, and a case stays open only if a member shows lawful permanent resident status, commonly called a green card.
The county’s information sheet, revised August 4, 2026, puts the numbers at about 430 existing cases a month. Over a twelve-month period that totals 5,205 cases and 9,000 individuals. The sheet carries the names of County Executive J. Ryan McMahon II and Commissioner Sarah G. Merrick and says the changes follow H.R. 1, the federal law passed in July 2025, and guidance from New York’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance issued in April 2026.
For a noncitizen household in the county, the county’s answer is to get proof of green-card status in front of the department before the recertification date. Recertification notices are mailed 45 to 50 days before the household’s authorization period ends, so the notice itself is the first signal. Households with no member who is a lawful permanent resident are told their case will close at that recertification.
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Which noncitizens the county says are affected
The sheet lists the groups under the heading “Who’s Impacted.” They are people granted asylum, refugees, Iraqi and Afghan special immigrants and SQ/SI parolees, victims of human trafficking and Amerasian immigrants. It also names people whose deportation or removal has been withheld and certain Hmong or Highland Laotian tribal members.
Two parole groups are named by date. They are certain Ukrainian nationals granted parole between February 24, 2022 and September 30, 2024, and certain Afghan nationals granted parole between July 31, 2021 and August 30, 2023, as the sheet prints the dates.
Who keeps SNAP at recertification
At recertification, household members with lawful permanent resident status can keep their case open, the county says. U.S. citizen members continue to receive benefits, and the work rules for able-bodied adults without dependents apply where they fit. The county says the new rules have applied to all new SNAP applicants since April 2026.
The sheet says clients can prove green-card status with an I-551 Lawful Permanent Resident card, an I-94 with a temporary I-551 stamp, or any other authoritative document identifying them as a lawful permanent resident.
What a refugee or asylee waiting on a green card can do
Many people in these groups do not yet hold a green card. The sheet notes that refugees must be in the United States one year before applying for one, and that the federal government decides approval, not the county.
Once the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approves the status, the household submits the documents to Onondaga County DSS-ES, the county office named on the sheet. Eligibility is then determined under all program requirements, including waiting periods such as the five-year wait that applies to some lawful permanent residents. A green card, in other words, reopens the question but does not guarantee benefits. USCIS information is at its website.
What the county leaves open
The sheet is a county projection, not a list of names. It does not give a date when any particular case will close, only that closure comes at that household’s next recertification. The county attached a Community Food Connections brochure listing meal sites and food pantries for households that lose benefits.
No phone number is printed on the sheet. The household’s own recertification notice, mailed 45 to 50 days ahead, remains the only date a family can plan around.
Will an Onondaga County household’s papers be ready when its recertification notice arrives?
With 5,205 cases projected to close in twelve months, a notice that arrives 45 to 50 days before the end date leaves little time to find an I-551 card or an I-94 stamped with a temporary I-551. A household that cannot produce the right paper in that window can see its case closed.
The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer is built around that window. It includes 51 state packs, a renewal document checklist and a renewal and reporting calendar, so the New York dates and papers sit in one place.
Get the renewal document checklist for Onondaga County SNAP households →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
