Oregon, along with 21 other states, successfully obtained a court order on Friday to prevent the Trump administration from accessing sensitive information about recipients of federal food assistance programs managed by the states. The data in question includes home addresses, social security numbers, recent whereabouts, immigration status, and other personal details. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield argued that if this information were to be shared among federal agencies—something the Trump administration has openly pursued—it could be used for immigration enforcement purposes.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under President Donald Trump, demanded that states provide information on millions of individuals enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This request pertained to all recipients since 2020.
Rayfield, along with the attorneys general from 20 other states and Kentucky, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. On Friday, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order that halted the administration’s demands. The states involved contend that both state and federal laws restrict the disclosure of personally identifiable SNAP data “except under narrow circumstances.” Despite this, the USDA has threatened to revoke SNAP benefits if states do not comply.
In Oregon alone, approximately 751,000 individuals receive SNAP benefits, equating to one in six residents. While undocumented immigrants are generally ineligible for SNAP, those with citizen children often seek benefits on their behalf. The Trump administration has aggressively pursued personal data from individuals involved in federal programs administered by the states, including Medicaid and voter registration information. An executive order signed by the president justified this data sharing as a means to combat “waste, fraud, and abuse.”
In a separate legal challenge against the Trump administration, Rayfield and other state attorneys general argued that the administration was attempting to grant the U.S. Department of Homeland Security “unfettered access” to personal health data through Medicaid. While Medicaid is largely unavailable to undocumented immigrants, Oregon has utilized state funds to extend coverage to all eligible residents, regardless of their immigration status.
This week, the Trump administration also announced plans to sue Oregon and Maine after they refused to provide private voter data to the U.S. Department of Justice. The New York Times reported that the DOJ’s requests for voter data, sent to numerous states, are part of an effort to substantiate unfounded claims regarding widespread illegal voting by undocumented immigrants in U.S. elections.
