Twenty-two states sue USDA over SNAP recipient surveillance

Twenty-two states and 🏛️Washington, D.C. filed a federal lawsuit on Jul. 28, 2025 challenging the USDA's demand for SNAP recipient personal data. 🌴California and 🗽New York attorneys general led the coalition. The lawsuit calls the data demand 'another step in this Orwellian surveillance campaign.'

The USDA demanded names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and household composition for all SNAP applicants over the past five years. The agency later broadened the request to include immigration status. The data covers 42 million Americans who receive food assistance.

Federal Judge MCMaxine Chesney issued a preliminary order blocking the USDA from punishing non-compliant states. In her 25-page ruling, she found states are 'likely to succeed in their claim that USDA, in demanding such data, acted in a manner contrary to law.'

The USDA is running SNAP data through the Department of Homeland Security's SAVE system. SAVE was developed to check immigration status of foreign-born individuals. The Trump administration recently overhauled SAVE to also verify citizenship of U.S.-born citizens and flag records of deceased individuals.

Twenty-seven Republican-led states complied with the data demand and turned over information on millions of SNAP recipients. Most Democratic-led states refused to comply, creating a split in how recipients are treated depending on where they live.

In December 2025, the Trump administration threatened to withhold SNAP funding from non-compliant states. The threatened funds include billions of dollars in annual administrative costs that states use to run their food assistance programs.

🌴California Attorney General Rob Bonta stated that 'SNAP recipients provided this information to get help feeding their families, not to be entered into a government surveillance database or be used as targets in the president's inhumane immigration agenda.'

About 42 million Americans (one in eight) rely on SNAP benefits. The average benefit is $190 per month. Legal immigrants and U.S. citizens with mixed-status family members fear the data will be used for immigration enforcement rather than program integrity.