The new work requirements are set to take place February 1 and require people up to age 64 to work or volunteer at least 80 hours per month to remain eligible for food assistance. 

Chicago — New federal SNAP work requirements are putting thousands of Illinois residents at risk of losing access to food assistance, including unhoused residents, veterans, and parents  on Chicago’s South and West Sides, where many families are struggling amid rising costs, job instability, housing injustice, and unnecessary barriers to nutritious and good food. In response, Anabel Mendoza, a lifelong Chicagoan and immigrant rights organizer, released the following statement:

“This is cruelty dressed up as policy. Up to 400,000 Chicagoans could lose SNAP under these new rules. An Englewood man is losing his food benefits not because he refuses to work, but because the system fails him every day. 

“The 7th district already faces the largest life-expectancy gap in the country; a gap disproportionately killing Black and brown residents the most. From Englewood to Austin to North Lawndale, decades of deliberate economic disinvestment has led to food deserts, job instability, and rising costs.Now, Washington is making it worse—cutting access to food rather than investing in true economic repair and opportunity that builds more affordable housing, supports first-time homebuyers, and provides opportunities for local entrepreneurs to start their own businesses, generating good-paying jobs right here at home. 

“Broken leadership continues to punish hardworking families for failures they never created. In Congress, I will fight to make sure no family in our district is forced to go hungry because politicians chose cruelty over basic human rights and common sense.”

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Anabel Mendoza is a community organizer, immigrant advocate, and the youngest candidate running for Congress in Illinois’ 7th District. A lifelong Chicagoan and the proud daughter and granddaughter of immigrants, she has dedicated her career to fighting for working families, immigrant rights, and a government that serves people, not corporations. She’s running to bring unity, honesty, and courage to Washington. For more information, visit www.anabelforcongress.com