Democratic attorneys general in 21 states and Washington, D.C., sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday after claiming the agency excluded many lawful permanent residents from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program eligibility under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The lawsuit claimed that the agency misinterpreted the provisions stemming from the legislation and implemented guidance that excluded residents from the nutrition benefits as a result. The lawsuit stated the agency also enacted the guidance before its start date.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump in July, enacted large-scale changes to SNAP benefits. These include the implementation of work requirements for recipients of the benefits, restrictive eligibility for noncitizens, and penalties for states that refuse to comply.
The provisions in the budget reconciliation package stated that “individuals who once held the status of refugees, individuals granted asylum, or parolees from gaining eligibility for SNAP” who become lawful permanent residents were not barred from obtaining the benefits.
The USDA implemented the new guidance on Oct. 31, the date the agency considered to be the end of the 120-day exclusionary period for states to adhere to the changes since the bill’s passage. However, the lawsuit argued that the 120-day period should have started on Oct. 31 instead of ending on that date.
The changes to SNAP eligibility and the rollout of guidance “have caused significant confusion” for the states behind the lawsuit, which argued that they “have been asked to implement new substantive, erroneous limitations on SNAP eligibility, many of which could not have been anticipated as they diverge from the text of the OBBB, in 24 hours.”
As a result, lawful permanent residents residing in the U.S. islands of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau, as well as Cuban and Haitian legal immigrants, are no longer eligible to receive the SNAP benefits. Additionally, lawful permanent residents who are eligible for assistance will now only be able to obtain the benefits after a five-year period if they meet other requirements.
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Another provision in the bill directs states, beginning in 2028, to fund a portion of SNAP benefits if their payment error rate is equal to or greater than 6% in either 2026 or this year, which could shift the entire funding responsibility away from the federal government.
The plaintiff states have asked the court to stay and vacate the guidance from the USDA.