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The case is the latest legal action between states and the
federal government over the Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families program, which like other public programs have come
under scrutiny from the Trump administration as sources of
potential fraud.
The coalition of states sued in federal court in Washington to
stop the agency that controls the program from moving ahead with
a rule that would allow it to share recipients' immigration
status, Social Security numbers and additional personal
information with other parts of government or potentially with
private entities, according to the lawsuit.
“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.
Earlier this year, a judge prevented the Trump administration
from withholding Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and
other subsidy program funding from a handful of
Democratic-controlled states, after the federal government said
there was “reason to believe” the states were granting benefits
to people in the country illegally. A federal government lawyer
later said the move was largely in response to news reports
about possible fraud.
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program provides
more than $16 billion to states, D.C. and tribal governments in
the form of grants that the local governments then have broad
discretion to use to help low-income families through cash
assistance, job training or other programs.
Along with New York and the District of Columbia, joining the
lawsuit are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut,
Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon,
Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. The
governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania have also signed onto the
suit.
The federal Administration for Children and Families declined to
comment Monday.
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