The Trump administration is facing a new legal challenge over its effort to restrict Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for lawful permanent residents.
In July, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act, which amended several eligibility rules for SNAP.
In late October, during the government shutdown, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) issued guidance explaining how it interprets the new law. That guidance, according to a lawsuit filed this week, sharply and improperly narrows SNAP access for certain noncitizens.
A complaint filed Wednesday by New York Attorney General Letitia James argues that FNS “errs” in its reading of the statute and unlawfully cuts off benefits for groups that should still qualify under federal law.
At the core of the case is the claim that the federal government is trying to permanently block some immigrants who later become lawful permanent residents (LPRs) from ever receiving SNAP.
The 28-page lawsuit outlines the legal and historical backdrop:
Before OBBB took effect, noncitizens who entered the United States as refugees or were granted asylum were eligible for SNAP based on that status. The same was true for many people granted humanitarian parole. OBBB removed those particular categories of eligibility from the Food and Nutrition Act.
However, the complaint stresses that nothing in OBBB prevents former refugees, asylees, or parolees from becoming eligible for SNAP once they adjust their status to lawful permanent residents.
According to the plaintiffs, immigrants who originally arrived as refugees or asylum seekers “can be eligible for SNAP benefits if they adjust status and become” LPRs — but the Trump administration is attempting to ensure many of them “will never be eligible for SNAP benefits.”
“The Guidance creates a false dichotomy in describing categories of immigration statuses post-OBBB as either ‘Not eligible unless an LPR’ or ‘Not eligible,’” the lawsuit says. It argues that any noncitizen who becomes a lawful permanent resident may qualify for SNAP if they meet all other statutory requirements, and that FNS wrongly classifies many such individuals in the “Not eligible” category instead of “Not eligible unless an LPR.”
The plaintiffs say this misclassification misleads certain immigrant groups into believing they can never qualify for food assistance.
“In reality, irrespective of someone’s immigration status before becoming an LPR, once they obtain their Green Card, they are eligible for SNAP if they meet other statutory requirements,” the complaint states.
A second dispute in the lawsuit involves how quickly some green card holders can access SNAP, in light of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA).
Under PRWORA, most LPRs must reside in the U.S. for at least five years before qualifying for SNAP. That waiting period doesn’t apply, however, to roughly a dozen exempt categories, including children, people who are blind, and people with disabilities.
The new FNS guidance, the lawsuit claims, now tries to strip some of those exceptions from certain classes of green card holders. The plaintiffs call this a “clear” misreading of PRWORA.
“PRWORA excludes individuals who were admitted as refugees, granted asylum, had their deportation withheld, and others, from the five-year waiting period,” the complaint notes, adding that OBBB did not change PRWORA’s exemptions.
A third issue is a new error-detection and penalty system introduced in the FNS guidance.
According to the lawsuit, this framework “would saddle states with catastrophic financial penalties unless they immediately implement the unlawful restrictions.” The complaint says that, under OBBB, states have 120 days to respond to new guidance and address violations. Yet the Trump administration is allegedly trying to enforce the new rules with only a one-day grace period.
“The federal government’s shameful quest to take food away from children and families continues,” James said in a statement. “USDA has no authority to arbitrarily cut entire groups of people out of the SNAP program, and no one should go hungry because of the circumstances of their arrival to this country. My office will always fight to protect Americans’ SNAP benefits, and I will do everything in my power to shield New Yorkers from this unlawful policy.”
New York is leading the case, joined by 20 other states. The lawsuit alleges multiple violations of the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how federal agencies must create and implement policy.
