Last month, Roshani, an Afghan case worker in Vermont, heard that her clients with Special Immigrant Visas would be losing access to food stamps.

It has been a hard message to explain to them, she said.

It’s not just that her clients come to Vermont with few or no resources, said Roshani, whose real name is being withheld while she seeks asylum. Special Immigrant Visa holders are largely Afghans who were granted that status after assisting the U.S. government in their home country before American troops withdrew in 2021. They have come to the state as legal permanent residents.

But Vermont’s interpretation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ’s language on the issue renders these visa holders ineligible for food stamps in practice. Advocates are contesting the state’s reading, which the

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