The line to get into the food bank in Fresno — in California’s agricultural heartland — is hundreds of people long and snakes along the sidewalk.

Stephanie Wininger, a coordinator with the Central California Food Bank, is passing out laminated cards with numbers on them. It’s a first-come, first-served system.

“When I got here this morning at 7, the line already wrapped around the corner,” she said. “Usually, it wouldn’t even hit the corner yet before the shutdown.”

Within five minutes, she’s run out of cards to give out. There are at least 100 more people in line. It’s unclear whether they’ll get in to get food.

Food banks have been bracing for an influx as SNAP benefits — commonly known as food stamps — remain on hold and the Trump administration figures out how to comply with a court order to pay at least half of the benefits during the shutdown.

SNAP has never stopped before, not even in earlier shutdowns. Now, that influx is starting to materialize, with reports of more people showing up for aid in Texas, Colorado, Utah, here in Fresno, and beyond.

Among those who did make it into the Central California Food Bank is 39-year-old Brandon Holm. He said he’s a self-employed tattoo artist and depends on SNAP. And he’s at the food bank for the first time.

“We're only able to get 15 items today. I don't know how long that 15 items is going to last,” he said. “Then I don’t know when the SNAP benefits are actually going to come through, and so I'm going to end up having to look for more food resources.”

Sitting nearby, sipping coffee and waiting for their turn to pick up food, are Maria Eva Romero and Felipa Cruz. They’re 81 and 73, respectively.

“We came to get food because we don't have any,” they said in Spanish.

They say they’re out of food and are here because they didn’t get their SNAP benefits.

I ask them what they’ll do if SNAP remains cut off for weeks. “If they let us work, we’ll work,” they respond.

They say they’ll go back to picking produce in the fields just to make ends meet.