A group of Democratic-led states sued the Trump administration on Monday in federal court in Washington to block a newly announced policy that would allow federal immigration officials to obtain information about low-income families with children who receive benefits through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
The complaint targets a June announcement from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which stated it would share records on families receiving TANF benefits with other agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to permit checks of recipients' immigration status.
Under the terms of the TANF program, which is federally funded and administered by states, more than $16 billion is provided annually to states to support low-income families with children, including through direct cash payments. The states bringing the lawsuit argue that the law that enacted TANF assigns responsibility for verifying applicants' eligibility to the states rather than the federal government.
According to the states' filing, ACF is asserting a broad oversight role over state-run TANF programs and, in doing so, is claiming the authority to share benefit recipients' personal data with other federal agencies. The states contend this will allow immigration officials to screen program participants and may create a chilling effect that deters people who are legally eligible from applying for benefits.
"The Trump administration is exploiting a program designed to ensure children do not go hungry and to help needy families get back on their feet in order to fuel its mass surveillance effort," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
The plaintiff states argue that ACF's new data-sharing rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution by disregarding existing restrictions on data sharing and by imposing novel, arbitrary conditions on federal funding streams tied to TANF.
"Instead of helping families struggling with the rising cost of living, this administration is trying to turn antipoverty programs against the people they’re supposed to serve," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
ACF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In prior public statements, the agency has said the policy is necessary to determine whether states are verifying the citizenship or immigration status of TANF recipients before providing benefits.
The data-sharing policy is slated to take effect on August 11. The lawsuit represents the latest legal challenge to administration efforts to obtain sensitive personal data from other government agencies concerning millions of people.
Reporting focuses on the legal and administrative conflict between state authority over TANF eligibility verification and the federal agency's assertion of broader oversight and data-sharing powers, with consequences for program participation and privacy protections for vulnerable families.