A recent lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration is illegally attempting to deny Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to lawful permanent residents.

In July, Congress enacted the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act, introducing several changes to SNAP eligibility criteria.

Amid the government shutdown in late October, the Food Nutrition Services (FNS), a subagency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), released guidance on the newly passed omnibus legislation. This guidance aims to restrict noncitizen access to SNAP benefits in several notable ways.

Filed on Wednesday by New York Attorney General Letitia James, the lawsuit contends that the FNS guidance misinterprets the new law.

Central to the lawsuit is the allegation that the government’s actions seem designed to prevent certain categories of noncitizens, who have obtained green cards, from ever accessing SNAP benefits, according to the plaintiffs.

The 28-page complaint offers a condensed history lesson:

Prior to the OBBB going into effect, non-citizens who entered the United States as refugees or were granted asylum were eligible for SNAP, based on their status at the time of their admission or parole. This was also true for many who were granted humanitarian parole. OBBB eliminated these categories of eligibility in the FNA. However, nothing in OBBB prohibits individuals who once held the status of refugees, individuals granted asylum, or parolees from gaining eligibility for SNAP if and when they adjust their status to lawful permanent residents (LPRs).

To hear the plaintiffs tell it, immigrants who came to the United States as refugees or asylum seekers “can be eligible for SNAP benefits if they adjust status and become” green card holders, but the Trump administration is trying to make sure such immigrants “will never be eligible for SNAP benefits.”

“The Guidance creates a false dichotomy in describing categories of immigration statuses post-OBBB as either ‘Not eligible unless an LPR’ or ‘Not eligible,’” the lawsuit reads. “Regardless of the status they once held, any non-citizen who adjusts to LPR status can become eligible for SNAP if they meet other statutory requirements. However, the Guidance incorrectly places many of these individuals in the ‘Not eligible’ category, rather than the ‘Not eligible unless an LPR category’”

The plaintiffs say the government is “misleadingly” telling certain groups of immigrants they can never become eligible for SNAP benefits.

“In reality, irrespective of someone’s immigration status before becoming an LPR, once they obtain their Green Card, they are eligible for SNAP if they meet other statutory requirements,” the lawsuit goes on.

A secondary issue is the speed with which SNAP benefits can be conferred on certain non-citizens due to an ancillary law known as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWORA).

Under PRWORA, green card holders are only eligible for SNAP benefits if they have lived in the country for at least five years or without the five-year waiting period if they fall into “approximately a dozen” enumerated categories — such as being blind, disabled, or a child, the lawsuit explains.

Now, however, the government says those exceptions to the waiting period no longer apply to certain classes of green card holders.

The plaintiffs reject this “clear” misreading of PRWORA, the lawsuit says.

“PRWORA excludes individuals who were admitted as refugees, granted asylum, had their deportation withheld, and others, from the five-year waiting period,” the complaint continues. “And no provision of the OBBB amended PRWORA’s exemptions from its five-year waiting period.”

A tertiary issue identified by the plaintiffs is a new system to identify and account for errors envisioned by the FNS guidance.

That new system, the plaintiffs insist, “would saddle states with catastrophic financial penalties unless they immediately implement the unlawful restrictions,” according to a press release issued by James’ office.

Under the OBBB, states have 120 days to process new guidance and root out violations, according to the lawsuit. Still, the Trump administration is trying to implement the FNS guidance with only one day of leeway for any such violations, the filing explains.

“The federal government’s shameful quest to take food away from children and families continues,” James said in a statement. “USDA has no authority to arbitrarily cut entire groups of people out of the SNAP program, and no one should go hungry because of the circumstances of their arrival to this country. My office will always fight to protect Americans’ SNAP benefits, and I will do everything in my power to shield New Yorkers from this unlawful policy.”

The Empire State is the lead plaintiff, along with 20 other states, in the litigation. The lawsuit alleges multiple violations of the Administrative Procedure Act, the federal statute governing agency behavior.