Residents in Somerton welcomed Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva on Monday.
It was Grijalva’s first official visit to the district outside of Washington as she awaits being sworn into Congress.
Due to the delay, she currently does not have a budget or a congressional office where constituents can meet with her.
Somerton is a city dear to Grijalva. It was a stopping ground for her campaign, and it was also where her late father, Raul Grijalva had his congressional office.
“I come with a heavy heart knowing that this program and the meals program is in danger as of November 1. It’s so important that I get sworn in and we open the government so people like this can get what they need,” said Grijalva.
During the visit, she stopped by the Desert Valley Senior Center to hear directly from residents who could be impacted by funding cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
For resident Jeanette Johnson the visit mattered. Johnson said she relies on the food assistance program each month.
“I am on a fixed income. I hope the shutdown doesn’t last too long because it’s not working out for the people,” said Johnson.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed that SNAP benefits will not be issued on Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown, affecting about 42 million Americans who receive food assistance from the program.
“These are the people that we need to take care of and that we need to support. Nobody should go hungry. These are fundamental programs, what frustrates me is when I hear Trump saying things like these are democrat programs, they're not. The people here don’t identify as that, they’re people who have worked their whole life,” said Grijalva.
A coalition of more than two dozen Democratic attorneys general, including Kris Mayes of Arizona and Democratic governors from three states has sued the Trump administration over the suspension of SNAP funds.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, alleges the administration unlawfully suspended federal food-benefit payments during the government shutdown.