PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield joined a multistate lawsuit on Monday against the Trump administration, challenging demands from the United States Department of Agriculture for states to hand over personal information of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients.

In the lawsuit, the coalition of 20 attorneys general claim the Trump administration is illegally asking states for personal information to “fuel (a) mass deportation machine,” and say the USDA is threatening funding for the program if states do not comply.

“For many families, SNAP is the difference between having groceries on the table and going without,” said Rayfield. “Forcing states to hand over years of sensitive personal information puts those same families at risk. Oregonians shouldn’t have to give up their privacy to put food on the table.”

SNAP is a federally funded program, administered by states, that offers food assistance to tens of millions of low-income families across the U.S.

The attorneys general note that the federal government and state agencies have worked together for over 60 years to ensure that SNAP benefits are only given to people who are eligible for the food assistance credits, noting the USDA itself has described SNAP as having “one of the most rigorous quality control systems in the federal government.”

Those quality control systems do not require states to turn over sensitive, personally identifying information without any restrictions on how that information is used or shared with other agencies, the attorneys general argue.

However, in May, the USDA made an “unprecedented demand” for states to hand over “massive amounts of personal information,” on all SNAP recipients – including Social Security numbers and home addresses dating back five years, the attorneys general said.

Officials note that undocumented immigrants are generally ineligible for SNAP benefits; however, immigrants with citizen children may seek benefits on their children’s behalf.

The attorneys general argue that the data requested by the USDA – if improperly shared – would allow federal immigration authorities access to the identities and locations of undocumented immigrants.

In their lawsuit, the attorneys general argue that the USDA’s request violates federal privacy laws, fails to meet public comment requirements, oversteps USDA’s authority and violates the Spending Clause.

With the lawsuit, the attorneys general are asking the district court to declare the Trump administration’s demands unlawful and to block the Trump administration from making federal funding conditional.

Rayfield joined the attorneys general of California, New York, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin and the state of Kentucky in the suit.