Twenty states and the District of Columbia launched a legal strike Wednesday against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, accusing the agency of unlawfully yanking food assistance from categories of lawful permanent residents in what they describe as an unprecedented and harmful policy shift.
States Challenge Sudden SNAP Restrictions
The coalition of attorneys general is seeking to overturn an Oct. 31 USDA memo that sharply narrowed eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The guidance blocks noncitizens who originally entered the U.S. as refugees, asylum seekers, or through other humanitarian pathways from receiving benefits—even after they obtain green cards.
That interpretation, the states argue, defies federal law, which has long provided that such immigrants become SNAP-eligible once they attain lawful permanent resident status.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, rebuking the rule in stark terms, said:
“The federal government’s shameful quest to take food away from children and families continues. USDA has no authority to arbitrarily cut entire groups of people out of the SNAP program.”
