Over 300,000 people in the Rio Grande Valley face losing SNAP in November
Democrats, including Rep. Henry Cuellar and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, sent a letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins calling for the use of emergency funds.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture posted a notice on its website Saturday confirming there will be “no benefits issued” in November for people who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to help put food on their table. The interruption of payments is part of a larger shutdown that began in October when the Senate failed to agree on a resolution that would continue funding the federal government.
Any lapse in SNAP assistance would hit the Rio Grande Valley especially hard, with child food insecurity rates topping 31% in counties like Starr, according to data from Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks. In September, more than 140,000 households across the region’s four counties were enrolled in the program, Texas Health and Human Services confirmed on Monday.
The newsletter of independent journalism
from the Rio Grande Valley.
Become a free member
to keep reading.
Sign Up
Already a member? Log in.
Join our community
and support local journalism
Hola, amigos! My name is Pablo De La Rosa. I'm an independent journalist based in the Rio Grande Valley, and Across The Americas is my newsletter — for and about the Texas-Mexico borderlands and the people who make their lives here.
I'm building a local community around good reporting on the most pressing issues in our region. I also believe now is the time to start building connections outside the digital platforms controlled by Big Tech that do more to separate us than bring us together. So I'm asking readers to sign up with their best email.
Across The Americas focuses on bringing our readers nonpartisan, public-service coverage of regional and binational issues important to the people who live here.
This year, I've reported on grassroots political organizing, the environmental concerns on both sides of the border arising from industrial projects, the water crisis on the Rio Grande, and the effects that the Trump administration's policies are having on hundreds of thousands of people in the Rio Grande Valley.
If you're someone who cares about the future of our home and our people, sign up to get in-depth reporting from the Rio Grande Valley you won't find anywhere else — free from the influence of outside interests.
Members also get exclusive invites to community events and some extra surprises. Always free, and always independent.
Saludos!
About Across The Americas
Across The Americas is the newsletter of independent journalism from the Rio Grande Valley, covering the Texas-Mexico region and the deep roots its people share across the continent.
Join four-time award-winning journalist Pablo De La Rosa as he reports on the global forces shaping these regional communities today.
Pablo's voice has appeared on NPR, MSNBC, Texas Public Radio, The Border Chronicle, The Texas Standard and Lighthouse Reports documentaries. In 2022, Pablo helped launch and host the first daily Spanish-language newscast in public media for Texas, broadcasting from the Rio Grande Valley for San Antonio’s NPR member station.
Get in touch
newsroom@acrosstheamericas.com
Sign Up
Already a member? Log in.
