Oregon Families on Food Stamps Win Court Fight Stopping Trump From Taking Their Personal Data

Many Oregonians can breathe a sigh of relief that they won’t have to choose between putting food on the table and protecting their family’s privacy after Oregon Attorney General Rayfield and a coalition of 21 other states won a court order against the Trump Administration protecting SNAP Recipients’ sensitive personal information.

Oregon Win Against Trump Administration Means SNAP Recipients Can Keep Feeding Their Children Without Fear Of Deportation

Oregon AG Rayfield confirmed yesterday that a temporary restraining order was granted after

Oregon sued to stop Trump officials from accessing the names and addresses of Food Stamp recipients in July. This included the Trump Administration’s illegal demand for millions of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients’ data to use for immigration enforcement, even though SNAP is about fighting hunger, not immigration enforcement.

Attorney General Rayfield said, “This ruling means parents can keep feeding their kids without worrying that their personal information will be misused or turned against them.”

See also: Oregon Lawmakers Push Food For All Program As Hunger Hits Great Depression Levels, And 62,000 Lose SNAP Benefits

The coalition argued that this highly sensitive data, which includes home addresses, Social Security numbers, recent locations, immigration statuses, and more, would likely be shared across federal agencies and used for immigration enforcement, in violation of the law.

Since January 2020, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which administers SNAP, has requested that states submit personally identifying information, including names, dates of birth, personal addresses, and Social Security numbers, of all SNAP applicants and recipients, and threatened states with potential SNAP funding cuts if they refuse to comply.

Federal and state laws both prohibit states from disclosing personally identifying SNAP data except under narrow circumstances. USDA’s new demand has put states in an impossible position: either violate the law by complying or protect their residents’ personal information, jeopardizing millions of dollars in funding for the state’s SNAP program.

The  District Court’s temporary restraining order has blocked USDA’s demand for the plaintiff states to turn over SNAP recipients’ data and prevents USDA from withholding SNAP funding.