By Dylan Goetz, mlive.com
LANSING, MI – A temporary restraining order blocking the Donald Trump administration from accessing personal data of SNAP recipients has been granted, according to the Michigan Attorney General’s office.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and 21 other states challenged the USDA’s demand for SNAP recipients’ personal data, arguing it violated privacy laws.
They warned the information could be misused for immigration enforcement.
The temporary restraining order was granted by the District Court for the Northern District of California, according to a news release from Nessel’s office.
The coalition of states sued the administration in July.
“By trying to illegally seize the personal data of more than a million Michigan residents, the Trump Administration attempted to force families into choosing between protecting their personal identifying information that may be shared for any purpose and eating,” Nessel said in a statement. “I am relieved the Court recognized the danger this posed, and I will continue to fight to ensure Michigan families never have to sacrifice their privacy to put food on the table.”
The USDA, which administers SNAP, threatened to cut funding from states that do not comply with their requests for sensitive information.
Michigan’s SNAP program provides more than a quarter billion dollars’ worth of benefits per month to more than 1,400,000 recipients, according to the release.
The following states joined Nessel in the coalition: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, as well as the state of Kentucky.
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