Representatives of groups that administer the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, a $7 billion effort funded entirely by the federal government, did not know on Tuesday whether the federal funding pause would affect the program.
W.I.C., as it’s usually called, provides vouchers for healthy foods to low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants and children.
Trump administration officials said that programs that provide direct assistance to individuals are supposed to be exempt from the freeze. But W.I.C. support does not come directly from the federal government — like with Medicaid, the federal government sends money to states, which administer the program locally.
Like many other organizations that rely on federal dollars for charity work and other forms of aid, the uncertainty around the order left W.I.C. officials unclear on how their funding would be affected.
“Millions of people, moms and babies, rely on W.I.C. every day to get the healthy food they need and infant formula, breastfeeding support, and breast pumps they need,” said Alison Hard, director of public policy at the National W.I.C. Association. “Any policy that would put this program at risk would be catastrophic.”
Ms. Hard said the organization was seeking assurances from the Trump administration that W.I.C. was excluded from the freeze in funding. Fortunately, she added, states receive W.I.C. funds on a quarterly basis, so the programs should continue to operate.
“For now, we encourage families to continue to come in to W.I.C. as normal until we know more,” she said.
During the first Trump administration, many immigrant families or mixed-status families feared taking advantage of public benefits programs like W.I.C., even if they were eligible, out of concern that doing so could jeopardize their legal status or ability to get a green card.
A 2021 poll by the Protecting Immigrant Families coalition found that 46 percent of respondents in immigrant families that needed help during the Covid-19 pandemic didn’t seek it because of immigration concerns. A more recent 2024 Urban Institute survey found that 17 percent of individuals from immigrant families avoided safety net programs because of immigration concerns.