A coalition of 21 state attorneys general led by New York Attorney General Letitia James obtained a temporary restraining order from the District Court for the Northern District of California blocking the USDA from demanding personally identifiable information of all SNAP recipients, including Social Security numbers, home addresses, and immigration statuses. The lawsuit argued that the USDA’s demand violated federal and state laws prohibiting disclosure of SNAP data except in narrow circumstances, and that the data would be used for immigration enforcement against recipients. The order also prohibits the USDA from withholding SNAP funding from plaintiff states that refuse to comply with the data demand.
The District Court issued a temporary restraining order blocking the USDA from demanding plaintiff states turn over personally identifiable information of SNAP recipients, and prohibited the USDA from withholding SNAP funding from states that refuse to comply with the data demand.
In-house legal teams, particularly those at organizations that administer or contract with state or federal social services programs like SNAP, should review all contract clauses related to data sharing with government agencies, disclosure of beneficiary personally identifiable information (PII), and compliance with agency data demands. Teams should verify that contracts prohibit sharing PII except as explicitly permitted by applicable federal and state privacy laws, restrict use of beneficiary data to program administration purposes (excluding immigration enforcement), and include protections against funding withholding for refusing unlawful data demands. Additionally, clauses governing required PII disclosures should be updated to align with court-ordered restrictions on agency data collection.
Entity
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Industry
OtherOfficial Press Release
https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2025/attorney-general-james-wins-court-order-protecting-snap-recipients-sensitive
california et al v united states department of agriculture t
https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/court-filings/california-et-al-v-united-states-department-of-agriculture-temporary-restraining-order-2025.pdf
attorney general james takes action protect sensitive person
https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2025/attorney-general-james-takes-action-protect-sensitive-personal-information-tens
New York Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://ag.ny.gov/press-releases
"United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)"
"Both federal and state laws prohibit states from disclosing personally identifying SNAP data except under narrow circumstances."
"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."
"September 19, 2025"
"New York Attorney General Letitia James"
"Attorney General James and a coalition of 20 other attorneys general and the state of Kentucky"
New York Attorney General Letitia James joined a multistate coalition of 21 attorneys general and Kentucky in filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) challenging its illegal demand for personally identifiable information of over 40 million SNAP recipients. The coalition alleges the USDA’s requirement that states turn over SNAP recipients’ Social Security numbers, addresses, and immigration statuses violates federal and state laws prohibiting disclosure of SNAP data for non-program purposes, and that the data will be shared across federal agencies for unauthorized immigration enforcement. The coalition seeks a declaratory judgment declaring the policy illegal and a nationwide injunction preventing enforcement of the data demand.
$3.3M
New York Attorney General James announced a multistate settlement with three major egg producers for illegally coordinating to influence a daily egg price index, artificially inflating prices for consumers. The companies will deliver 53 million eggs to food banks and pay $3.3 million, along with adopting compliance measures.
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New York Attorney General Letitia James, along with the U.S. Department of Justice and 16 other states, reached a settlement with three major egg producers—Cal-Maine Foods, Versova/Centrum, and Hickman's Egg Ranch—for illegally coordinating to manipulate the Urner Barry price index, artificially inflating egg prices nationwide. The companies will deliver 53 million eggs to food banks across participating states, pay $3.3 million, and adopt compliance measures to prevent future violations.
New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a consumer alert warning New Yorkers about gold bar scams targeting seniors, where scammers trick victims into converting money into gold bars. The alert provides tips to help consumers avoid falling victim to these scams.
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New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a multistate settlement with Cal-Maine Foods, Versova/Centrum, and Hickman's Egg Ranch for illegally coordinating to manipulate the Urner Barry egg price index, artificially inflating egg prices. The companies will deliver 53 million eggs to food banks and pay $3.3 million, along with compliance measures.
$3.3M
New York Attorney General Letitia James and a bipartisan multistate coalition, alongside the U.S. Department of Justice, settled with three major egg producers for illegally coordinating to manipulate the Urner Barry daily price index, artificially inflating egg prices for retailers and consumers. The companies will deliver 53 million eggs to food banks nationwide, including 4,968,000 eggs to New York, and pay a combined $3.3 million, along with adopting compliance measures to prevent future violations.