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MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | Federal Court Blocks Attempt to Remove Lawful Permanent Residents From SNAP
SAINT PAUL, MN (September 21, 2026). A federal court has permanently blocked the Trump administration from excluding certain lawful permanent residents from federal food assistance and from penalizing Minnesota and other states for failing to implement the disputed restrictions retroactively.
The ruling granted summary judgment to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and a coalition of attorneys general that challenged the administration’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program guidance in November 2025.
The court concluded that the administration’s eligibility interpretation lacked a legal basis and that its retroactive deadline for states was unlawful and arbitrary.
The decision protects lawful permanent residents who previously entered the United States as refugees, received asylum or qualified under other humanitarian immigration categories.
It also prevents the federal government from imposing potentially substantial financial penalties against Minnesota and other states for failing to meet a deadline that the coalition argued had effectively expired before federal officials finished explaining the required changes.
Eligibility and the Five-Year Waiting Period
Federal law generally requires many lawful permanent residents to wait five years before becoming eligible for SNAP. Congress has created exceptions for refugees, people granted asylum and some other humanitarian immigrants.
The administration’s guidance would have applied the waiting period to certain residents who had originally entered through protected humanitarian categories but later obtained permanent-resident status.
The court determined that changing immigration status did not eliminate the eligibility protections Congress provided to those groups.
The lawsuit also challenged federal instructions connected to SNAP eligibility changes contained in the 2025 Republican budget legislation.
The administration later reversed its position on the eligibility of lawful permanent residents but continued to argue that states could be penalized for failing to comply during the disputed grace period.
Friday’s ruling rejected that position and permanently blocked enforcement of the penalties.
Minnesota Joined 22 Other Plaintiffs
The case was led by the attorneys general of New York and Oregon. Minnesota joined California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
A preliminary injunction issued in December 2025 had temporarily prevented the federal government from enforcing the disputed changes while litigation continued. The new ruling resolves the coalition’s claims in its favor at the trial-court level.
The administration retains the ability to seek appellate review. No appeal had been announced in the Minnesota Attorney General’s September 18 statement.
Practical Consequences for Minnesota
SNAP provides grocery assistance to qualifying households with limited income. Because the program is federally funded but administered through states, abrupt federal eligibility changes can affect both recipients and the state agencies responsible for determining benefits.
The ruling means Minnesota cannot be fined under the invalidated retroactive deadline and does not have to remove previously protected lawful permanent residents from food assistance based on the rejected interpretation.
It also limits the federal government’s ability to use administrative guidance to impose eligibility restrictions not authorized by Congress.
The court’s decision does not expand SNAP eligibility to every noncitizen. Income requirements, immigration classifications and other federal eligibility rules remain in place.
Its central effect is to preserve eligibility for humanitarian immigrants who subsequently became lawful permanent residents and to prevent states from being punished for refusing to implement an unlawful retroactive policy.
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