“President Trump’s new executive order (EO) has the completely misleading tile of ‘Reducing Poverty in America by Promoting Opportunity and Economic Mobility.’ It is apparently based on the presumption that poor people could find jobs, that their disabilities will magically melt away, and that any mental illness will cease to be a barrier to gainful employment when they are deprived of food because they can’t work. Existing barriers to work such as disability, lack of jobs, skills, education, child care, transportation, or other real handicaps are ignored by the president. And in fact 44 percent of households getting help from SNAP (the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program run by the Department of Agriculture) already have a member earning money, just not enough to feed everyone. Those affected will disproportionally women and people of color.

“Studies show the work requirements will end up pushing people off federal food assistance and deeper into poverty. What’s worse, Trump’s order instructs all federal departments to look for ways to impose work requirements on low-income Americans who benefit from federal programs he calls ‘welfare.’ It is an order designed not to end poverty, but to end aid to those most in need.

“Adding to this cruel EO is House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway’s (R-TX) draft farm bill that seeks to erode the effectiveness of SNAP.  SNAP is the nation’s most critical anti-hunger program, supporting 41 million working families, seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities. NCJW will continue to resist such punitive measures, instead working to ensure the promise of the American dream is a reality for those in greatest need.”