BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) — As part of the major tax and spending bill passed by Congress in July, many refugees and asylum seekers in Idaho have immediately lost access to food assistance and will lose access to medical coverage from Medicaid next year.

Those seeking temporary humanitarian parole — a process to get legal authorization, used by many who came to Idaho from Afghanistan and Ukraine — will also have to pay a much higher fee to get a work permit.

Around 550 individuals have resettled in Idaho since last fall, said Holly Beech, communications manager for the Idaho Office for Refugees. As a result of the budget reconciliation package approved July 1, named H.R. 1 or the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” many of those individuals who had been using the Supplemental Nutrition Assista

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