BALTIMORE — Maryland’s Attorney General, Anthony Brown, has initiated yet another legal challenge against the Trump Administration.
This particular lawsuit pertains to the recent directives issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which would render certain migrants ineligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
In July 2025, Congress enacted President Donald Trump’s notable legislation, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
One of the key components of this bill restricts SNAP benefits for non-U.S. citizens and imposes heightened penalties on states that mistakenly distribute these benefits to ineligible individuals.
To provide some context, Maryland reported a 13.64 percent error rate last year, with 8.65 percent classified as over-payments, according to the USDA.
SEE ALSO: Maryland’s legal action seeks to protect SNAP recipient information from federal authorities.
Brown, along with 21 other Democratic Attorneys General, contends that the USDA’s guidance exceeds the bounds set by the Big Beautiful Bill.
They assert that the USDA proposes that individuals who arrive in the U.S. as asylees or refugees would face permanent ineligibility for SNAP, even after they secure a green card or become lawful permanent residents.
“Federal law clearly states that refugees, asylees, humanitarian parolees, and other vulnerable legal immigrants qualify for SNAP once they receive their green cards and fulfill standard program prerequisites,” Brown and his colleagues argue.
With the enactment of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” it is anticipated that around 170,000 Maryland residents could lose their SNAP benefits.
Consistent with many of Brown’s previous lawsuits, this latest filing was submitted out-of-state in Oregon, where a significant majority of judges are Democratic appointees, who tend to favor the states in such cases, thereby setting the stage for a possible appeal.
