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A coalition of 21 Democratic attorneys general sued the Trump administration Wednesday to block new U.S. Department of Agriculture guidance that they argue illegally lists thousands of immigrants — including refugees and asylum seekers — as being “permanently” ineligible for anti-hunger benefits.
The lawsuit, filed by the attorneys general Wednesday in Eugene, Oregon, seeks to block the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new, more narrow eligibility criteria for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, which the agency published in a memo late last month.
They argued that the new USDA guidance, intended to comply with a provision under the GOP-led Big Beautiful Bill tax and spending legislation, goes beyond what lawmakers intended by incorrectly classifying certain individuals — including refugees and asylum seekers who have been granted lawful permanent resident status in the U.S. — as “permanently ineligible” for SNAP.
Rather, they said, the guidance “threatens to destabilize SNAP nationwide,” and risks jeopardizing food access for families who “have done everything right.”
TRUMP, STATES BACK IN COURT OVER SNAP AS BENEFITS REMAIN IN LEGAL LIMBO
California Attorney General Rob Bonta (R) speaks as California Governor Gavin Newsom looks on during a news conference at Gemperle Orchard on April 16, 2025, in Ceres, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The attorneys general said Wednesday that the new USDA guidance in question makes clear that “refugees, asylees, humanitarian parolees, individuals whose deportation has been withheld, and other humanitarian entrants become eligible for SNAP once they obtain their green cards and meet standard program requirements.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta told reporters on a call Wednesday that the USDA guidance “blatantly misapplies the agency’s own regulations” for SNAP, the nation’s largest anti-hunger program that provides food aid to…
