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2.0

USDA instructs states to verify SNAP applicants' citizenship via SSNs and SAVE database

  1. Original Date Announced

    April 24, 2025

    Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services John Walk issued guidance directing state agencies to verify social security numbers (SSNs) and immigration statuses for SNAP applicants, including by verifying SSNs against the Social Security Administration's Death Master File. The guidance further instructs State agencies to collect immigration documents and use the DHS Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system to verify citizenship status.

    The guidance also encourages states to adopt certain additional verification measures, discontinue the use of pre-populated application forms, and use SAVE to continuously verify immigration status "since immigration status can quickly change."

    Trump 2.0 [ID #1880]

    2025.04.24 USDA - Improving Eligibility Verification to Support Program Integrity
  2. Effective Date

    April 24, 2025
  3. Subsequent Trump and Court Action

    April 24, 2025

    2025.07.28 Complaint - California v. USDA

    Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against the USDA, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, and USDA's Office of the Inspector General regarding USDA's demand that the states turn over sensitive information about individuals who have applied for SNAP. The complaint alleges that “USDA’s attempt to collect this information from Plaintiff States flies in the face of privacy and security protections in federal and state law.” In particular, it claims that the administration’s actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act, the Spending Clause of the Constitution, and are ultra vires. California v. USDA, No. 3:25-cv-06310 (N.D. Cal.).

    **Link to case here. Our litigation entries generally report only the initial complaint and any major substantive filings or decisions. For additional information, CourtListener provides access to PACER and all available pleadings. Other sites that track litigation in more detail or organize cases by topic include Civil Rights Clearinghouse, Justice Action Center, National Immigration Litigation Alliance, and Just Security**

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