New York Attorney General Letitia James has joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general and the state of Kentucky in filing a lawsuit to challenge a new federal policy requiring states to share personal information about recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, argues that the Trump administration’s policy puts at risk the privacy rights of more than 40 million people who rely on food assistance across the country.
The contested requirement mandates that states provide federal agencies with detailed personal data about SNAP recipients, including home addresses, Social Security numbers, recent locations, and immigration statuses. According to Attorney General James and her counterparts, this information could be shared among federal agencies and used for immigration enforcement purposes, which they argue violates existing law.
“Families should be able to get the food assistance they need without fearing that they will be targeted by this administration,” said Attorney General James. “I will not allow the SNAP benefits that millions of New Yorkers count on to be put at risk. We are suing today to stop this illegal policy and protect New Yorkers’ privacy and access to food assistance.”
The lawsuit follows an executive order signed by the president in March that mandated increased data sharing between federal agencies. Since then, according to Attorney General James and others involved in the suit, there has been an effort by the administration to collect private information from Americans for uses beyond those originally authorized. Both state and federal laws restrict disclosure of personally identifying SNAP data unless it is strictly necessary for administering the program.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees SNAP, has requested states submit names, dates of birth, addresses, and Social Security numbers for all applicants and recipients dating back to January 2020. The USDA has indicated that states refusing to comply could face reductions in SNAP funding. This situation places states in a difficult position: either comply with what they allege is an unlawful demand or risk losing significant funding essential for running SNAP programs.
Data from May 2025 show approximately 1.7 million households in New York—representing over 2.9 million individuals—participated in SNAP; nearly one million were children. More than half of all SNAP participants nationwide are families with children; over a third are families with elderly members or people with disabilities. Federal law allows non-citizen parents to apply for benefits on behalf of their citizen children even though non-citizens generally do not qualify themselves.
Attorney General James and her colleagues contend that these new demands violate constitutional protections as well as the Administrative Procedure Act by forcing states into conflict with federal statutes governing privacy and benefit programs. The lawsuit seeks a court ruling declaring these requirements illegal and preventing any sharing of sensitive SNAP data with agencies such as the Department of Government Efficiency or Department of Homeland Security except when directly related to program administration.
Other parties joining New York in this legal action include attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington State, Wisconsin; also participating are officials from the District of Columbia and Kentucky.
