| As California families shoulder the burden of Republicans’ devastating cuts to food assistance, Congressman Derek Tran is fighting to restore benefits for refugee families like his own, many of whom will lose access to SNAP benefits in California this week.
In a new op-ed, Tran shares how his life was shaped by the very programs under threat. The son of Vietnamese refugees fleeing persecution, programs like SNAP helped Tran go on to serve in the U.S. Army, as a lawyer and small business owner, and now as the first Vietnamese American to represent Orange County in Congress. In office, he’s working to restore critical SNAP funding and protect the same pathway for others against Republicans’ broken promises.
“I grew up on SNAP, WIC…and Medicaid, lived in Section 8 housing and attended public schools. Because of that foundation, I excelled…That’s why I’m fighting so hard in Congress to protect funding for SNAP and ensure that every family has the opportunity to succeed, just like my family.” – Rep. Tran.
Read more from Rep. Tran:
MS NOW: My refugee family needed food stamps. I’m in Congress fighting to restore that aid.
- Effective April 1, refugees and asylum seekers in California will no longer qualify for benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program… The end of that aid is a direct result of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which cuts $187 billion from SNAP through 2034.
- In many cases, these are families who fled unimaginable violence and persecution, welcomed into the safety, freedom and opportunity provided in America.
- For hundreds of years, refugees have arrived in America, ready to contribute to society. But starting from nothing is almost impossible. They require support to rebuild their lives.
- I know this firsthand. My story is a refugee story.
- I was born barely a year after my parents fled the unimaginable horrors of communist Vietnam. My father lost his first wife and four of his children on their first attempt to escape as boat people following the fall of Saigon in April 1975. He met my mom and five years later, with three young daughters, they found their way to America.
- I grew up on SNAP, WIC (Women, Infants and Children) and Medicaid, lived in Section 8 housing and attended public schools. Because of that foundation, I excelled. I served in the Army. I graduated from law school. I opened a business. Today, I represent California’s 45th District in Congress.
- Those weren’t handouts. They were the fulfillment of a promise, a sacred agreement between my family, this community and the country we are proud to call home.
- Now that promise is being broken.
- The human cost of cutting SNAP for refugees will be immediate: hunger, untreated illness and destabilized households. The long-term cost to our communities and our economy will be just as steep.
- When refugees have the resources they need to succeed, they open businesses, grow our economy and contribute to our communities.
- Studies show that every dollar a child receives in SNAP benefits returns $62 in value over their lifetime. They do better in school, earn more in their jobs, contribute more in taxes and live longer.
- This is just the beginning of the attack on vulnerable families in the Big Beautiful Bill. Hundreds of thousands of Americans will lose necessary food benefits this year, and by 2027, cuts to Medicaid will rip health care away from millions.
- The people facing these cuts now are no different from my own family. They have the same hopes, the same dreams and the same ability to succeed when they are given the tools to do so.
- These cuts won’t just hurt some families. They will hurt all of us.
- That’s why I’m fighting so hard in Congress to protect funding for SNAP and ensure that every family has the opportunity to succeed, just like my family.
- If anyone asks what a refugee kid on SNAP looks like, I say they look like me.
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