States sue over Trump policy of sharing benefits data with immigration authorities

A coalition of Democratic-led US states has sued the Trump administration to block a policy allowing immigration authorities to access information on low-income families with children enrolled in a cash-assistance program.

A coalition of Democratic-led U.S. states sued the Trump ​administration on Monday to block a new policy allowing ​federal immigration authorities to receive information about low-income ‌families ​with children enrolled in a cash-assistance program. The lawsuit marked the latest in a series of legal battles over efforts by the administration to give immigration officials access to sensitive ‌personal data on millions of people held by other government agencies.

"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, a Democrat, said in a statement. The lawsuit takes aim at a move announced in ‌June by the Administration for Children and Families, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to allow it to share with other agencies records on families receiving benefits from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

The federally funded, state-administered program provides over $16 billion annually to states ⁠to provide ​assistance to low-income families with children, ⁠including cash payments. The states, in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, said that the law enacting TANF specifically put states, and not ⁠the federal government, in charge of verifying applicants’ eligibility for benefits.

Yet the states said the Administration for Children and Families is now claiming ​it has broad authority to oversee their TANF programs and share benefit recipients' data with other agencies including the ⁠U.S. Department of Homeland Security and check their immigration status, potentially deterring those legally qualified to receive benefits from applying. The data-sharing policy is set to ⁠take ​effect August 11.

The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but it has said that the policy is necessary to assess whether states are verifying TANF recipients' citizenship or immigration status before providing them benefits. The states ⁠argue that the policy violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution by ignoring current data-sharing restrictions and by placing ⁠new, arbitrary conditions on federal funding.

"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, ‌a Democrat, said ‌in a statement.