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Oct. 2, 2025, 5:00 AM EDTBy Tom WinterCurrent and former police leaders, citing rising threats of violence, are expressing alarm over a“disturbing rise in rhetoric” in the U.S. and calling for the criminal prosecution of “individuals, including elected and public figures, who incite violence or contribute to a climate that fosters targeted attacks.” In an unusual step, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, one of the country’s largest police associations, recently passed a resolution condemning the “incitement of violence.” “There has been a disturbing rise in rhetoric from political and community leaders that has contributed to acts of violence against law enforcement officers, elected officials, and members of the public,” the association states in the document. “The IACP urges political and community leaders to exercise restraint, responsibility, and thoughtfulness in their public statements, recognizing the influence their words have on public behavior and safety.”Former police leaders expressed alarm in interviews, warning that the number of threats to the public, schools, political leaders and law enforcement was the highest they had seen in their careers. “The level of vitriol is at a spot that I’ve never observed in my entire career,” former St. Paul, Minnesota Police Chief Todd Axtell told NBC News. “It’s having devastating impacts on community and police departments and law enforcement agencies throughout the country.”Ed Davis, who served as Boston police commissioner during the Boston Marathon bombings, said the threat levels are unprecedented and law enforcement agencies lack the resources to both counter rising threats and conduct traditional policing.“I talk to my colleagues around the country frequently, and we’re just astounded … that we find ourselves in this situation,” Davis said in an interview. “And everybody’s looking for guidance or leadership on this, and there just doesn’t seem to be any right now.”Both men are members of IACP, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization of top police executives with more than 35,000 members in the U.S. and chapters in over 170 countries. In late August, the organization passed the resolution to draw public attention to the problem and highlight the dangers of incendiary rhetoric and individuals who might act on it. “Society must recognize that there are individuals who are vulnerable, easily manipulated, and dangerously impressionable,” the group said in its resolution. “And that when public figures or other influential individuals spread hate, words have consequences, and in the wrong hands, they can become weapons.”Call for prosecutionsThe association also urged law enforcement officials to enforce existing laws to combat the problem. “The IACP calls for the enforcement of criminal sanctions against individuals, including elected and public figures, who incite violence or contribute to a climate that fosters targeted attacks.”Legal experts say law enforcement agencies can charge individuals with violating laws that bar making specific violent threats against people, groups, or institutions, if certain criteria are met. Local prosecutors can use state laws banning terroristic threats and federal prosecutors can charge individuals with making interstate threats.The group emphasized that they are not trying to restrict political speech in any way, noting that free speech is “a cornerstone of democratic society.”Then-Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis walks down Mascot Street in Mattapan after meeting with investigators where a body was found in the backyard of a home in November 2010.John Tlumacki / Boston Globe via Getty Images fileOne police leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity and is a member of the IACP, said, “I will tell you that we have more people dedicated to threat investigation and protected missions than any time in our 90-year history of this organization.”A second police commander agreed. “The drumbeat has picked up,” they said.The two said that threats of violence have spread from being primarily received by elected officials and political figures to a broader group including CEOs, health care providers, housing administrators, educators and, in particular, judges.These threats are on top of the day-to-day policing work that these agencies must contend with, along with more traditional threats such as mass shootings at schools and threats from terrorist organizations, they said.One police executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had a simple message for politicians: Their words have impact. “This isn’t a political matter; this is, ‘Stop the speech that’s causing people to radicalize and take action,’” the police executive said. “‘Because, whether you believe it or not, they believe you’re talking to them.’”Concerns on the groundNBC News also spoke to two leaders of statewide police agencies in noncoastal states with hundreds of staff and large Democratic and Republican populations. The two leaders, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they have personally investigated active-shooter incidents and dealt with rising threats to politicians and public employees.They were granted anonymity so they could freely discuss the challenges they face as law enforcement officials and their recommendations, given an environment where people who publicly criticize threats of violence are then routinely threatened themselves. They said norms regarding free speech and threats of violence had changed.“It was almost like, before, people knew where the line was to avoid saying the things that are illegal,” said one police commander, referring to the past. “And now it doesn’t seem that anybody really cares about what they say.”Then-St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell at a news conference, in St. Paul, Minn., on June 13, 2019.John Autey / Pioneer Press via AP fileOne of the statewide leaders said he has over 100 investigators in his state focused exclusively on school threats to educators and possible mass shooters at schools.Many of the cases, police say, have a significant mental health component.“I can’t think of the last one that we charged that didn’t go down a mental health competency road,” one of the officials said.The variety of threats police are trying to counter is widening, officials said, as crime continues to rise. One official described the duties he faced on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. “What’s different about today is, in one day we went to an active shooter, I’m protecting dignitaries that are going to high-profile events because it was 9/11,” he said. “I’m in pursuit of a stolen car with shots fired, and that’s all within 15 minutes of each other.”The official said that investigating threatening speech online, for example, pulls police away from public safety duties. “We’re now investing people, resources and time to go down and try to find what, in many times, ends up being a keyboard warrior.”’Vacuum of leadership’One of the law enforcement officials in active duty said they were sounding an alarm because other community leaders have not spoken up enough about the rising threat. “I think this is a vacuum of leadership,” he said, adding: “Policing has the opportunity, if not the responsibility, to stand up.” He added that their goal was to work with leaders from other parts of society and communities. “We want to come to the table and be a part of facilitating that more thoughtful discourse in and teach people, or at least show people, that you can actually disagree and argue with each other without weapons.”“People are mad,” the official added, “and there’s not a voice to quiet it right now.”“It’s not just about policy, it’s about tone,” said Axtell, the former St. Paul police chief. “And if we want to turn down the temperature in our communities, leaders at every level must take responsibility for the words they use and the impact those words have.”Davis, the former Boston police commissioner, called for restraint and accountability from public officials.“I think the challenge is for public officials across the nation not to get caught up in the back-and-forth and be the adult in the room when these things start to happen,” Davis said. “I think public officials should be stressing that almost every person who does something outrageous like this is held accountable for it.”Tom WinterTom Winter is NBC’s National Law Enforcement and Intelligence Correspondent.

- Latest News - October 2, 2025

Police leaders, citing rising threats of political violence, are expressing alarm over a “disturbing rise in rhetoric” in the U.S.

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Oct. 2, 2025, 5:00 AM EDTBy Mithil Aggarwal, Jay Ganglani and Peter GuoNEW DELHI — In India, some of the biggest jobs in tech come to you.Graduates of the Indian Institute of Technology (ITT), one of the country’s most prestigious universities, are recruited directly by Indian companies as well as American firms looking to lock down some of the world’s top talent in fields that will dominate the future, such as artificial intelligence and robotics.Many of them also continue their studies in the United States, where India overtook China last year as the biggest source of foreign students. But policy decisions and other moves by the Trump administration, including the recently announced $100,000 fee for the H-1B skilled immigrant work visa, now have those graduates thinking twice about going to America. “About 20 students are graduating from my department, and nearly 10 to 15 have a postdoctoral offer from the U.S.,” said Ajaykumar Udayraj Yadav, a materials science and engineering doctoral candidate working on energy storage systems, who is among the student volunteers at the Office of Career Services at IIT’s New Delhi campus.“But the way they’re seeing the situation develop in the U.S., these students are unwilling to take them up,” he said. Trump administration raises fee for H-1B visas to $100,00000:49While offers to work directly in the U.S. are few and far between, more common is relocation via the H-1B program after working in Indian offices for a few years. Out of the 400,000 H-1B visas approved in the 2024 financial year, 71% of the grantees were born in India, according to the Department of Homeland Security. China was a distant second at less than 12%. Among the top H-1B employers are tech giants such as Amazon, Meta and Google, as well as consulting firms such as Accenture and Deloitte, according to the DHS data. U.S. tech leaders who once held H-1B visas include Satya Nadella, the chairman and chief executive of Microsoft; Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google and its parent company, Alphabet; and Elon Musk.It was a tried and tested formula that held up for decades, enabling what was the Indian dream.But on Sept. 19, a surprise proclamation from President Donald Trump increased the fee for new H-1B visa applications to $100,000, up from $2,000 to $5,000 per application. The increase, on top of a series of deportations and immigration arrests affecting Indians and other foreign nationals, has stung young science and tech talent in India and spurred other countries to try to scoop them up instead.“Our migration policy works a bit like a German car. It is reliable, it is modern, it is predictable,” Philipp Ackermann, the German ambassador to India, said in a video posted on X four days after Trump’s H-1B announcement. “We do not change our rules fundamentally overnight. Highly skilled Indians are welcome in Germany.” The same day, British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves said the United Kingdom would ease routes to bring high-skilled workers into the country. China, meanwhile, launched its own special visa for foreign tech talent on Wednesday. “China welcomes outstanding talent from all industries and sectors around the globe to come to China, take root in China, and work together to advance human society,” foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing last month.Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order introducing a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas. Andrew Harnik / Getty ImagesYadav, the doctoral candidate, said the trend among Indian students is shifting away from the U.S. and toward European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Norway, which have high English fluency and a quicker and more reliable path to citizenship.“The dream would be to get a great job in India, but if someone mentions going abroad, I personally keep Europe as a better option compared to the U.S.,” he said, adding that this was also an opportunity for India to find ways to retain its talent.Asian destinations such as South Korea, home to Samsung and other tech giants, have also risen in popularity.Priyanshu Agrawal, a 20-year-old computer science senior at IIT, said he already has a job offer from a South Korean company and has no plans on going to the U.S. “If there are restrictions like these, then people wonder why go to a country that isn’t so welcoming,” he said. “You stop seeing the advantage of going there.”Trump’s proclamation said the H1-B program had been “deliberately exploited” to replace American workers with “lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.” The announcement was another setback to U.S.-India relations, which have sharply deteriorated after Trump slapped damaging tariffs on Indian imports, complained about Apple manufacturing iPhones in India and made overtures to Indian archrival Pakistan. “This will create another pressure point in U.S.-India relations,” said Gil Guerra, an immigration policy analyst at the Niskanen Center, a Washington-based think tank. “One potential consequence of this is another uptick in irregular Indian migration as legal pathways become even harder to pursue.”India’s foreign ministry said the H-1B fee increase, which applies only to new visa applicants, “is likely to have humanitarian consequences by way of the disruption caused for families.”Analysts say it may hurt the U.S. more.“This decision will cause U.S. businesses to offshore and drive innovation and entrepreneurship outside of the United States,” said David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, a Washington-based think tank. “The proclamation shows utter contempt for some of the most productive, innovative, and law-abiding people in American history.” In addition to allowing American companies to hire directly from India, the H-1B program also helps some of the more than 330,000 Indians studying in the U.S. to stay in the country after they graduate.“Universities will suffer and so will countless college towns with the drop of international student demographic,” said Sudhanshu Kaushik, executive director of the North American Association of Indian Students.“I hope a recourse happens,” he added.Mithil Aggarwal reported from New Delhi, and Jay Ganglani and Peter Guo from Hong Kong.Mithil AggarwalMithil Aggarwal is a Hong Kong-based reporter/producer for NBC News.Jay GanglaniJay Ganglani is NBC News’s 2025-26 Asia Desk Fellow. Previously he was an NBC News Asia Desk intern and a Hong Kong-based freelance journalist who has contributed to news publications such as CNN, Fortune and the South China Morning Post.Peter GuoPeter Guo is an associate producer based in Hong Kong.

- Latest News - October 2, 2025

The new $100,000 fee for the H-1B skilled immigrant work visa has young tech talent in India thinking twice about going to the United States.

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Oct. 2, 2025, 5:00 AM EDTBy Tyler KingkadeDES MOINES, Iowa — On Tuesday, hundreds of students walked out of middle and high schools across the city to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detention of Ian Andre Roberts, the now-former superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district. In the afternoon, several dozen students gathered at the State Capitol, calling for Roberts’ release from the Sioux City jail where he’s being held, and holding signs reading “Radical Empathy,” a tagline he frequently used. “I don’t think anyone really cares about the fact he’s illegal,” said Gabriel Doyle Scar, 17, who helped organize the protest. “We’re just sad about the fact that an extremely nice man that supported us heavily and really strongly is now taken away from us.”During rush hour that night, roughly 20 people displayed a banner from a bridge over the interstate that cuts across the center of the city reading “Free Dr. Roberts,” as dozens of cars and large trucks honked in support as they passed underneath. Supporters draped a banner over Interstate 235 in Des Moines reading “Free Dr. Roberts” on Tuesday.Tyler Kingkade / NBC NewsRoberts had been the superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools when ICE arrested him early Friday, accusing him of being in the country without authorization. ICE has said he tried to evade arrest and was found with a loaded gun in his district-issued car, a hunting knife and $3,000 in cash. At a news conference earlier this week, his lawyer, Alfredo Parrish, didn’t discuss those allegations. Through Parrish, Roberts submitted a letter of resignation Tuesday, writing that he didn’t want to be a distraction while he tried to stop his deportation. But neither his resignation nor the unanswered questions about his case have quelled the protests in Des Moines, the left-leaning capital of a Republican-led state. Instead, Roberts’ arrest has sparked a moment of mass mobilization in a sleepy city where protests are relatively rare.The resignation letter submitted on Roberts’ behalf to the Des Moines School Board.Tyler Kingkade / NBC News“It’s very unusual,” Dave Peterson, a political science professor at Iowa State University, said of the daily protests, adding that for many, Roberts’ detainment was the first major moment in which the recent wave of ICE arrests truly hit home.“This is a moment where people can express support for somebody who they value, somebody who’s an important part of the community, and be protesting against what ICE is doing more broadly,” he said.Makhani Scearcy, 20, a college student standing with classmates outside the capitol Tuesday, made a similar point. “Definitely people truly love Dr. Roberts,” she said, “but he’s just one puzzle piece of just how insane things have been.”Republicans in Iowa have called for investigations of the district’s hiring practices. U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, a Republican whose district includes Des Moines, said he is seeking further information from the Department of Homeland Security about the case, and he released a redacted excerpt of the May 2024 removal order for Roberts signed by a judge. “Many of us in the community knew Dr. Roberts and trusted him, which makes it hurt even more that he spent so long providing us false information,” Nunn said this week on KCCI-TV of Des Moines.Yet, in interviews with two dozen parents, colleagues and students this week, many expressed strong support for him, even as new questions about his background have trickled out. “We were told by the current administration that they were going to get rid of people that didn’t belong here; that’s not what they’re doing,” said Justin Peters, a high school baseball coach in the district. “They’re getting rid of high-class people that are part of our community.”

- Latest News - October 2, 2025

Hundreds of Des Moines parents, teachers and students have protested the detainment and possible deportation of Ian Roberts, the popular school district leader.

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Oct. 2, 2025, 5:00 AM EDTBy Berkeley Lovelace Jr.Your Medicare, Medicaid or Affordable Care Act coverage won’t vanish during the government shutdown, but changes to some benefits and fewer government workers to help could still disrupt care for millions.At the heart of the shutdown fight is whether Republican leaders accept a demand from Democrats to extend Obamacare subsidies before they expire at the end of the year and premiums start skyrocketing. Democrats also sought to undo President Donald Trump’s Medicaid cuts, but the GOP has shown no interest.Fortunately for everyday people, core programs like Medicare and Medicaid will keep running because their funding is built into law. But a popular Medicare benefit — telehealth — has already ended for many, and so-called discretionary programs, such as Community Health Centers (CHCs), may be at risk unless Congress acts soon.More than 167 million people — roughly half the U.S. population, according to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — are covered by the programs.Here’s what the shutdown means for health care coverage:Medicare and telehealth One of the first casualties of the shutdown are telehealth services offered to people on Medicare. A pandemic-era rule that let Medicare patients see doctors from home — not just rural clinics — and expanded which providers were covered expired Tuesday, cutting off access to many homebound seniors. The service will remain expired unless Congress includes funding in a coming spending bill. That means telehealth coverage will revert to pre-pandemic rules, under which it was largely limited to people living in rural areas, said Alex Cottrill, a senior policy analyst at KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group. The policy had a few exceptions, which allowed coverage for people on home dialysis or those who experienced strokes.More than 6.7 million older adults got care through telehealth services last year.Joseph Furtado, the president of the Arizona Association for Home Care, which advocates for telehealth, said he will continue to see patients for now, with the risk of not getting reimbursed if Congress decides not to extend funding. Other providers may not take that risk and turn patients away, he said.“Telehealth is not a convenience thing,” he said. “This is Grandma can’t get out of the house. This is Grandma just came home from the hospital and she can’t get out to see her doctor. You don’t want to go to the doctor when you come home, and it’s dangerous sometimes to do that.” In the near term, Medicare coverage more broadly will continue during the shutdown, meaning patients will be able to see their doctors and other health care providers — albeit most likely in person, Cottrill said. “Because Medicare is categorized as a mandatory program, its funding doesn’t require annual approval from Congress, and Medicare-covered services will still be available during the shutdown,” he said.Patients may have longer wait times when they call Medicare, Cottrill said, and providers might experience some delays in payments due to some agency workers’ being furloughed.MedicaidCoverage for people enrolled in Medicaid — which is jointly funded by states and the federal government — will also continue throughout the rest of this year and some of next year, according to CMS.In a statement on its website, CMS said it “will have sufficient funding for Medicaid to fund the first quarter of FY [fiscal year] 2026.”Art Caplan, the head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said it’s very likely that the agency will get additional funding by then.It’s slim chances the shutdown “would last that long,” he said. Coverage for the Children’s Health Insurance Program — which provides health care coverage to children and pregnant women in families that earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid — will also remain. “CMS will maintain the staff necessary to make payments to eligible states for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP),” the agency said. Obamacare subsidiesPeople will still be able to get coverage through their ACA plans, too. But there could be consequences, Caplan said, if Congress decides not to extend the ACA enhanced subsidies in the coming bill, the sticking point for Democrats who want to see the subsidies continue.The enhanced subsidies were enacted in the 2021 American Rescue Plan, which made ACA plans affordable for many middle-class families. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 extended the subsidies through 2025. Without the subsidies, out-of-pocket premiums could grow by as much as 114% next year, according to a KFF analysis.When ACA open enrollment begins Nov. 1, families could face sticker shock, Caplan said. And even if Congress restores the subsidies later in the year, some people may decide not to sign up, believing costs will stay high. “If they don’t do something in 30 days, people are going to see big jumps in their health insurance,” Caplan said.There could be a major political risk to Republicans and Trump if they don’t extend them, he added.“These are not people desperately poor. These are often people who are in the working class, who use the subsidy to get access to health care when it doesn’t come through their job,” he said. “I think they’ve been somewhat supportive of Trump and MAGA, and they will not be happy to see that jump.”Local health clinics The effects on public health will be “substantial” if the shutdown lasts several weeks, said Lawrence Gostin, director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University.“Many functions of CDC will be affected, such as disease surveillance and funding for states and local health departments,” Gostin said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides support for tracking respiratory diseases, like Covid and the flu, and provides grants to states, including for chronic disease prevention and vaccine programs. Funding for federal qualified health centers has already expired with the shutdown. But the clinics are unlikely to be affected, at least for the time being, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers.Those centers “should not experience an immediate disruption in funding,” Amy Simmons, an NACHC spokeswoman, wrote in an email. Simmons said the group has been in contact with the Health Resources and Services Administration, where officials said there is enough money set aside “to maintain CHC operations and staffing while government services are paused.” The number of people seeking care at community health centers has reached its highest in decades, Simmons said, at up to 52 million.Emergency services such as those provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency may be reduced or delayed, Gostin said, as well as funds for ongoing and new biomedical research.“The longer the shutdown goes on, the greater the risks to public health,” he said. “The shutdown has lifesaving impacts on America’s most vulnerable citizens.”Berkeley Lovelace Jr.Berkeley Lovelace Jr. is a health and medical reporter for NBC News. He covers the Food and Drug Administration, with a special focus on Covid vaccines, prescription drug pricing and health care. He previously covered the biotech and pharmaceutical industry with CNBC.Erika Edwards contributed.

- Latest News - October 2, 2025

Your Medicare, Medicaid or Affordable Care Act coverage won’t vanish during the government shutdown, but changes to some benefits and fewer government workers to help could still disrupt care for.

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Oct. 2, 2025, 5:00 AM EDTBy Aria BendixBecause Wednesday marked the start of the 2026 fiscal year, the WIC program — which provides free, healthy food to low-income pregnant women, new moms and children under 5 — was due for an influx of funding.Instead came the government shutdown. If it persists, access to the federal program, known in full as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, could be jeopardized. A USDA letter to WIC state agency directors on Wednesday confirmed that states would not receive their next quarterly allocation of funds during the shutdown.According to the National WIC Association, a nonprofit advocacy organization that represents state and local WIC agencies, “devastating disruptions” may deny millions of moms and children access to nutritious foods if the government remains closed for longer than a week or two. Given that Social Security checks will still go out, national parks remain partially open and most Medicaid and Medicare services are continuing, a lapse in WIC funding could be among the first widespread, tangible effects of the shutdown for nonfederal workers.WIC — a program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture — served roughly 6.8 million people as of April 2022, the most recent data available. It receives funding from Congress, which the USDA then allocates to states on a quarterly basis. From there, states distribute it to WIC clinics, of which there are roughly 10,000 nationwide. The clinics distribute preloaded cards that members use to purchase program-approved healthy foods at participating grocery stores. New moms can also purchase infant formula and receive lactation counseling. Barbie Anderson, a mother of three who is pregnant, said she has relied on WIC to purchase healthy food since her oldest child was born nine years ago. Her family lives paycheck to paycheck in Milaca, Minnesota, she added, and the program helps them afford fruits, vegetables, eggs, milk, peanut butter and yogurt. She has also used it for breastfeeding support, she said.Under normal circumstances, Anderson said, her WIC card would be reloaded on Oct. 15. She’s unsure if that will happen now. “All the food that we get from WIC goes to our kids. So you’re really harming the kids” if services pause, she said.During the shutdown, states will have to rely on up to $150 million in contingency funds from the USDA to continue offering services, along with a small amount of rollover funding from the previous fiscal year in some cases, according to the National WIC Association. The group warned that the funding could dry up in a week or two if the shutdown persists, depending on how states allocate it. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought told House Republicans during a conference call Wednesday that WIC is set to run out of money by next week if the government doesn’t reopen, according to two GOP sources on the call.“Historically, when there has been a shutdown, WIC has remained open for business, but because this one falls at the start of the fiscal year, there are some risks,” said Georgia Machell, president of the National WIC Association. She called on Congress to pass a funding bill that protects the program and keeps it running without interruption. A USDA spokesperson told NBC News that WIC’s continued operation will depend on “state choice and the length of a shutdown.” “If Democrats do not fund the government, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) will run out of funding and States will have to make a choice,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement.However, some House Democrats say the federal government has the power to keep WIC afloat — if the USDA commits to replenishing state funds used during the shutdown after it ends. In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Reps. Bobby Scott, D-Va., and Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., called on the USDA to do that.Without her WIC card, Anderson said, she may have to stop buying oranges for her children, which she feeds them to boost their immune systems.“My concern is, health wise, my kids’ immunity is going to go down,” Anderson said, adding that if they get sick, she’d also worry about affording doctor’s bills.Anderson’s family lives in a rural area where options for affordable food are limited. Her WIC benefits allow her to shop at the nearest grocery store, which would otherwise be outside her budget, she said: A gallon of milk there costs roughly $5. “We could go buy chips all day long for 99 cents, if we wanted to, at a run-down grocery store. But what’s that nutrition for our kids? That’s nothing,” she said.The closest Walmart, where prices are lower, is about 45 minutes away, but the price of gas makes regular shopping there expensive, too, she said.Anderson said she isn’t eligible for other food assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps. That program is expected to continue during the shutdown. (WIC generally has a higher income limit than SNAP.)The ability of WIC clinics to keep functioning will likely vary by state. Brandon Meline, director of maternal and child health at the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, said he was told that Illinois clinics have sufficient money to last through the month. But Meline worries about the program being used as a bargaining chip in shutdown politics. “This is the first time that WIC has ever been sort of dragged into political fray nationally. We hear discussions about SNAP and cash assistance, but WIC has sort of been politically untouchable up until now,” he said.Aria BendixAria Bendix is the breaking health reporter for NBC News Digital.Melanie Zanona and Julie Tsirkin contributed.

- Latest News - October 2, 2025

If the government shutdown lasts, it could jeopardize the WIC program, which provides healthy food to low-income pregnant women, new moms and children under 5.

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