Judge blocks USDA from collecting data about SNAP applicants in 21 states

A judge has temporarily barred the federal government from collecting personal information about residents enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in 21 states and Washington, D.C.

U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney in California issued the temporary restraining order against the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday, and said a hearing would be held next month to determine if a longer-term prohibition is necessary.

Chesney found that states were likely to succeed in their argument that the personal data can only be used for things like administering the food assistance program, and that it generally can’t be shared with other entities. The states said they feared that the data would be used to aid mass deportation efforts.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is a social safety net that serves more than 42 million people nationwide. Under the program formerly known as food stamps, the federal government pays 100% of the food benefits, while the states determine who is eligible for the benefits and then issue them to enrollees.

The Trump administration has worked to collect data on millions of U.S. residents through various federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, sharing the information with the Department of Homeland Security to support deportation efforts. The USDA warned states in July that if they failed to turn over the information about people enrolled in the federal food assistance program, SNAP funding would be cut off.

In response, the coalition of states sued, saying they feared the data would be used to aid mass deportations. They told the judge that the federal SNAP Act requires states to safeguard the information they receive from SNAP applicants, only releasing it for limited purposes related to administering or enforcing the food assistance program.

In Thursday’s ruling, Chesney said the states’ argument was likely to succeed, and that the USDA had already announced it planned to share the data with other entities and use it for purposes not allowed by the SNAP Act.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 20 directing agencies to ensure “unfettered access to comprehensive data from all state programs” as part of the administration’s effort to stop “ waste, fraud and abuse by eliminating information silos.”

The case is at least the second lawsuit filed over the USDA’s attempt to collect SNAP information. Privacy and hunger relief groups and a handful of people receiving food assistance benefits filed a similar lawsuit in Washington, D.C., in May, but the federal judge in that case declined to issue a preliminary injunction to stop the data collection.

Some states have already turned over the data. ___ Associated Press reporter Kimberly Kindy contributed.