New York State Attorney General Letitia James joined California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced at a joint press conference on Monday that they are suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture over demands to turn over Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applicant data.
The attorneys general are leading a coalition of 20 states and Washington, DC in their lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration. The coalition argues that the extensive demand for SNAP applicant data will violate residents’ privacy, put immigrants at risk, and hinder the ability of states to provide food assistance to those in need.
As part of Trump’s reconciliation bill, approved earlier this month, food benefit funding through the SNAP program will be slashed across the country. The move will put many New York families in need on the brink of hunger, AG James said.
“Without SNAP, many families will not be able to count on their next meal,” James said. “But now, this administration is attempting to use this program in their cruel and chaotic targeting of immigrants.”
The government demanded in May that states turn over data including social security numbers and home addresses dating back five years by Wednesday. The coalition is arguing that federal data privacy law and individual states’ laws prohibit states from providing the data.
Bonta said at Monday’s press conference that even if we thought it was lawful to provide the data, it would be “virtually impossible” to do so within the demanded time frame.
James sues Trump after AGs ‘tried to negotiate’
James said the attorneys general “tried to negotiate” with the Trump administration about the demand for data, but opted to litigate after failing to reach an agreement.
Democrats across the United States have condemned Trump’s administration for its recent cuts to SNAP benefits, which serve over 40 million people every year. Data collected by states in the application process are used to determine eligibility — states have not historically shared data with the federal government.
The USDA cited Trump’s March 20 executive order titled “Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos” in its demand for data.
Nessel, James, and Bonta raised concerns that the demand for data sharing could lead to a “chilling effect” among people who need food benefits, leading to a hesitance to apply.
“President Trump continues to weaponize private and sensitive personal information — not to root out fraud, but to create a culture of fear where people are unwilling to apply for essential services,” Bonta said. “We’re talking about kids not getting school lunch, fire victims not accessing emergency services, and other devastating, and deadly, consequences. That is Trump’s vision for America.”
A coalition of states sued the Trump administration earlier this month for sharing sensitive data about Medicaid recipients with the Department of Homeland Security. The demands for more personal data from Medicaid and SNAP recipients come as Trump’s administration ramps up efforts to deport millions of immigrants — in New York City, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers are conducting frequent raids in federal courthouses and detaining individuals attending routine hearings.
The lawsuit will be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in California and asks the court to “declare the Trump Administration’s demands unlawful and block the Trump Administration from conditioning receipt of SNAP funding on states’ compliance with these demands.”
Bonta noted at the start of Monday’s press conference that the lawsuit is the 35th of its kind that attorneys general coalitions have made against the Trump administration for various executive orders and department actions. James has led several of the lawsuits, including litigation related to Medicaid cuts and data.
USDA has said that further access to applicant data will “prevent fraud and abuse” in SNAP programs. At Monday’s press conference, James said the claim that the government is seeking to prevent fraud is simply a “pretext” for targeting immigrants. A spokesperson for the USDA declined to comment on the litigation.
A spokesperson for the Department of Justice declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Shortly after the government demanded that states turnover the SNAP data, a group of SNAP recipients, along with a privacy group and a national hunger group, sued the USDA for privacy violations, asking a federal judge to halt the data collection until the agency complies with federal protocols relating to data collection.
James, Bonta, and Nessel are joined in the lawsuit by attorneys general from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, and Kentucky.
