{"id":1549693,"date":"2025-07-29T14:25:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T18:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1549693"},"modified":"2025-07-29T14:25:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T18:25:00","slug":"coalition-of-dem-ags-sue-trump-admin-over-effort-to-weed-non-citizens-off-of-snap-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/coalition-of-dem-ags-sue-trump-admin-over-effort-to-weed-non-citizens-off-of-snap-program\/1549693\/","title":{"rendered":"Coalition Of Dem AGs Sue Trump Admin Over Effort To Weed Non-Citizens Off Of SNAP Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coalition Of Dem AGs Sue Trump Admin Over Effort To Weed Non-Citizens Off Of SNAP Program<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

New York, California, and a host of other Democrat-run states\u00a0are suing<\/a>\u00a0the Trump administration over its efforts to weed noncitizens off of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

A coalition of 20 attorneys general, led by New York AG Letitia James and California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the lawsuit Monday, <\/strong>arguing that the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s demand that states turn over personal information about SNAP recipients dating back five years, violates privacy laws.<\/p>\n

SNAP is a federally-funded, state-administered program that provides billions of dollars in food benefits to tens of millions of low-income individuals and families in the United States.<\/p>\n

The new USDA demands, released last week, require states to provide a list of individuals who have applied or are currently receiving SNAP benefits, in addition to other information such as a list of their immigration statuses in the U.S., and information including their marital statuses, their residential and mailing addresses, and education and employment history, among other things.<\/em><\/p>\n

The USDA has threatened to withhold administrative funding from states that don\u2019t comply.<\/p>\n

On April 24, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins issued a guidance to all State agencies directing them \u201cto enhance identity and immigration verification practices when determining eligibility for the program.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Under Rollins\u2019 direction, John Walk, acting deputy under secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, sent letters to state SNAP agencies, explaining that most noncitizens do not qualify for the benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy law, only United States citizens and certain lawfully present aliens may receive SNAP benefits.<\/strong> The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193) established that \u2018aliens within the Nation\u2019s borders not depend on public resources to meet their needs.\u2019 SNAP is not and has never been available to illegal aliens<\/strong>,\u201d Walk wrote.<\/em><\/p>\n

Specifically,\u00a0the USDA asked states<\/a>\u00a0\u201cto cross-check Social Security numbers with a death master file and to use the free Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system provided by the Department of Homeland Security\u201d to verify immigration status.<\/p>\n

An estimated 1.5 million noncitizens collected a total of $4.2 billion in Food Stamp benefit payments in fiscal year 2022<\/strong>,\u00a0according to<\/a>\u00a0U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data.<\/p>\n

Under a $53 million pilot program in New York City during the Biden administration, \u201casylum seekers\u201d were\u00a0reportedly<\/a>\u00a0given $1,400 in Snap Benefits a month.<\/p>\n

In FY 2023,\u00a0a \u201cstaggering\u201d $10.5 billion<\/a>\u00a0in improper SNAP payments were made,\u201d <\/strong>the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in February 2025. That amounts to about 12 percent of total SNAP payments that year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe inadequate verification of an applicant\u2019s identity and citizenship by states is specifically highlighted as contributing to the improper payments of SNAP funds,\u201d the USDA said in its April 24 press release.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Democrat AGs argue in their lawsuit that the USDA\u2019s latest directive violates federal privacy laws and exceeds the agency\u2019s authority.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump continues to weaponize private and sensitive personal information \u2014 not to root out fraud, but to create a culture of fear where people are unwilling to apply for essential services,\u201d Bonta said in a statement. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about kids not getting school lunch, fire victims not accessing emergency services, and other devastating, deadly consequences. That is Trump\u2019s vision for America.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Joining California in the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia, and Kentucky.<\/p>\n

Bonta, James, and Michigan AG Dana Nessel held a virtual press briefing to announce the latest Democrat lawsuit against the Trump Administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis administration is attempting to use this program as a tool in their cruel and chaotic targeting of immigrants,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> James charged.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nTue, 07\/29\/2025 – 10:25<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/coalition-dem-ags-sue-trump-admin-over-effort-weed-non-citizens-snap-program<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coalition Of Dem AGs Sue Trump Admin Over Effort To Weed Non-Citizens Off Of SNAP Program Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness, New York,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1549694,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1549693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbimBl-6v93","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/2025-07-29_06-15-52-Uf2c3F.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1549693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1549693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1549693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1549694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1549693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1549693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1549693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}