A coalition of states including New York announced plans Monday to sue the Trump administration, seeking to block a federal agency from collecting personal information on food stamp recipients — including their Social Security numbers and immigration status.
States have until July 30 to send the U.S. Department of Agriculture data for all SNAP beneficiaries for the last five years, or else risk losing federal funding. It will be up to a judge whether to extend that deadline.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said officials from the 20 states and Washington, D.C., will file the suit Monday in a U.S. district court in California. Bonta said the suit will argue the Trump administration’s unprecedented request for personal data is an “illegal data grab” that violated federal privacy laws.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said the request for data was an “outrageous” way to target immigrant families and boost the administration’s deportation numbers.
“They are basically trying to weaponize the SNAP program against immigrant communities in violation of the law. And we collectively will not stand for it,” said James, who last week also sued the Trump administration over its efforts to bar undocumented immigrants from accessing social welfare programs that don’t screen for immigration status and provide mental health, emergency food or child care services.
“We will not allow this life-saving program to be illegally used to hunt down immigrants and their families,” James said.
New Jersey and Connecticut are also among the states expected to join the lawsuit.
The USDA deferred questions to the Department of Justice, which declined comment Monday.
The lawsuit comes as the Trump administration has expanded its data-sharing agreements with immigration officials to bolster its enforcement and deportation goals. The Associated Press reported Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be given access to the personal information of Medicaid enrollees in order to find people living in the U.S. without legal status. Though undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid, they can temporarily sign up for Emergency Medicaid for lifesaving treatment during emergency room visits.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, serves nearly 3 million people in New York state, and a record 1.8 million in New York City. About half a million recipients in the city are children. While immigrants without legal status are not eligible for SNAP, they can apply on behalf of their citizen children.
The USDA has previously said the data request is part of the administration's broader efforts to root out what President Donald Trump called "waste, fraud and abuse" in an executive order. The agency first issued a letter May 6, stating it planned to collect the personal information on SNAP recipients and applicants dating back to Jan. 1, 2020.
In new documents issued last week, the USDA added more categories to the personal information it was seeking including a person’s immigration status, education and marital status, NPR reported.
Trump’s tax-cut-and-spending bill will already overhaul SNAP, with state and city officials warning thousands will be kicked off their benefits due to stricter work rules or receive much less every month. The changes also shift more of the cost of the program, which has always been covered by the federal government, to states and individual districts.