Providence, R.I. — As millions of families face the loss of vital food assistance, a coalition of local governments, charitable and faith-based nonprofit organizations, small businesses, and workers’ rights organizations filed a lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful suspension of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Democracy Forward and the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island represent plaintiffs.

Quotes from plaintiffs and co-counsel are below:

Plaintiffs

Municipalities

City of Albuquerque, New Mexico

“The City of Albuquerque is deeply concerned about the impacts of the loss of SNAP funding for our residents. SNAP provides a lifeline for thousands of Albuquerque families, seniors, and children. The loss of this funding will deepen food insecurity and place enormous strain on local support systems that are already stretched thin. We will continue to fight for our residents and advocate for the restoration of these critical benefits, because every person in Albuquerque deserves access to food and the dignity that comes with it,” said City of Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller

City of Baltimore, Maryland

“Yet again, this administration is unlawfully ripping lifesaving resources from hardworking Americans, young children, and older adults,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “Without these benefits, people will go hungry, and small businesses will lose a key source of income. The City of Baltimore is stepping up to support residents in the ways we can, but no municipality should be forced to do the job of the federal government.”

City of Central Falls, Rhode Island

“In Central Falls, nearly one in four of our residents depends on SNAP to put food on the table—more than 5,000 people in a city just one square mile wide. The administration’s refusal to use available funds to fix this crisis is not just reckless, it’s cruelty targeting the most vulnerable families in our country. Our City takes care of one another. That’s why we’re standing up, not only for Central Falls, but for every community where families are losing sleep over how they will feed their kids next week. This can’t continue.” —Mayor Maria Rivera, City of Central Falls, Rhode Island

City of Columbus, Ohio

“Providing food, shelter and care to residents and families struggling to get by is one of the few fundamental duties of government. While we continue to call on Congress to get a deal done to reopen the government, we cannot allow the Trump administration to let people go hungry when there are funds available to them to meet this dire need in Columbus and across the country,” said Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein. “This isn’t about politics. It’s about feeding our kids, the elderly and those struggling to find work or a good paying job.”

City of Durham, North Carolina

“The federal government’s decision to withhold SNAP benefits will have devastating consequences for the Bull City. Thousands of Durham families, children, and seniors rely on these benefits to put food on the table every day. Without SNAP, the burden on local nonprofits, food banks, and City programs will skyrocket—far beyond what any local government could sustain. Protecting SNAP is not just about food assistance; it’s about safeguarding public health, economic stability, and human dignity in our community. Durham stands with other cities and human rights organizations to ensure that this essential federal lifeline remains in place for the people who need it most,”  said Kimberly M. Rehberg, City Attorney, on behalf of the Durham City Council

City of New Haven, Connecticut

“Ending SNAP benefits and denying low-income children, seniors and veterans access to food to feed themselves and their families is immoral and unconscionable. Children and families will go hungry because of the Trump Administration’s callous and cruel decision – and we will not stand for it. That’s why we’re joining this lawsuit and why we’re standing up and standing alongside so many other local governments, charitable and faith-based nonprofit organizations, small businesses, and workers’ rights organizations who are fighting for New Haven families and families across the country,” said New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker

City of Pawtucket, Rhode Island

“As a community, we cannot stand by while our most vulnerable residents struggle to access the food assistance they depend on. Joining this lawsuit is about protecting the nearly 16,000 families, seniors, and children in Pawtucket who rely on SNAP benefits to put food on the table. Every resident deserves the dignity of food security, and, in collaboration with our community partners, the City stands ready to ensure that every family has the support they need. We will continue to advocate for fairness, accountability, and compassion so that no one in our city goes hungry,” said Mayor Donald R. Grebien of the City of Pawtucket.

City of Providence, Rhode Island

“The lack of action at the Federal level right now is creating a serious and immediate threat to families and children in Providence,” said Mayor Brett P. Smiley. “There are 25,000 families and seniors on fixed incomes with limited resources to fill this financial gap in our community alone. Cutting off SNAP benefits will have devastating consequences in homes across our city. Providence is committed to protecting our residents’ right to food and stability and is joining this fight to hold Washington accountable.”

Charitable and faith-based nonprofit organizations

Rhode Island State Council of Churches

“Providing and caring for the most vulnerable is an essential feature of faith. Our work flows as a response to God’s extravagant love for us, a love that moves us from the house of fear and into the house of love. In taking this action, we pray for transformed hearts and renewed minds, and for the faithful recognition of our common and interconnected humanity.” Jeremy Langill, Executive Minister, Rhode Island State Council of Churches

Amos House

“As Rhode Island’s largest Soup Kitchen, Amos House serves more than 200,000 meals each year. No one stands in line at a Soup Kitchen unless they are already experiencing significant food insecurity. To remove access to SNAP benefits for our most vulnerable community members creates yet another level of crisis for households who are already struggling. As Soup Kitchens and Food Banks expand to absorb these additional needs, the social sector is committed to working together to ensure that our neighbors in need do not go hungry,” said Eileen Hayes, Amos House President & CEO

East Bay Community Action Program

“It is often stated that America is one of the most powerful and amazing democratic nations in the world. As both a civic and business leader in the state of RI, I would agree with this sentiment. The world looks to our example of how we lead and shepherd the most vulnerable among us. We demonstrate leadership, compassion, and fortitude for those in conflicts and situations across the globe. That same resolve is needed now more than ever in our own homeland. Now, with the decision to pause SNAP benefits. We are faced with the unimaginable, daunting task of trying to keep our fellow Rhode Islanders nourished and healthy. SNAP recipients, not only in RI but across the country, utilize their benefits as a lifeline to meet their basic needs for sustenance each day. Even with this support, the benefits are often not enough for families. Organizations like East Bay Community Action Program supplement these benefits with our busy and robust food pantries. Since the recent pandemic, our agency’s emergency food assistance efforts have been at an all-time high as we aid our neighbors and fellow Americans. Since the US Government has shut down, we have seen confusion, pessimism, and fear about how people will survive without their SNAP benefits. That concern has been carried over to our remarkable staff, volunteers, and donors. Everyone, rightfully, is pondering how we can continue to do more with less federal support.

The cold hard truth is we shouldn’t have to respond at this level. Our government needs to continue vital funding for SNAP recipients. There is nothing that I can think of that is more bipartisan than ensuring the most vulnerable among us are treated with decency, respect, and compassion. That starts with providing for basic human needs like the ability to eat! America is watching  us and how our government is answering at this moment. How will we, as a nation, be remembered for our response to those most in need?” said Rilwan Feyisitan Jr., President/CEO at Eastbay Community Action Program

Federal Hill House Association

“There is just no way that SNAP-eligible families can put enough food on the table without SNAP benefits, no matter how hard community-based organizations work to fill the gap. Federal Hill House already operates one of the busiest food pantries in the state of RI, and it will be impossible to meet the community need we are facing. Hunger has a ripple effect – and families will either go without adequate nutrition or make impossible choices about how to spend their limited income on their basic needs. The cruel rhetoric about “the well has run dry” ignores the reality of the role of SNAP in this country, and ignores the fundamental decency of the vast majority of Americans who want their neighbors healthy and fed,” said Kimberly Fernandez, executive director, Federal Hill House

Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center

“Dr. King’s words guide our mission. His quote is inscribed into the walls of our lobby. He had the “audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.” We have that audacity, too. That’s why the MLK Community Center has joined this lawsuit to stop the cruel and unlawful suspension of SNAP benefits. We are fighting on behalf of over 4,000 vulnerable people in Newport County. These are men, women, children, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, immigrants with limited English proficiency, and more who rely on SNAP benefits as their primary or only means to buy food, and supplement those benefits with emergency food assistance from MLK hunger relief programs. Since our government won’t do what’s right, we must join this critically important lawsuit,” said Heather Hole Strout, Executive Director, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center

National Council of Nonprofits

“Denying millions of Americans access to basic food security is unlawful and unconscionable, and it threatens to push local nonprofit food banks, food pantries, and other organizations beyond the breaking point. Nonprofits are already doing everything they can to feed families and care for their communities amidst increasing need and diminishing resources, but they cannot replace federal nutrition programs, nor can they meet the tsunami of need that would result without SNAP benefits. We are suing the Trump administration because without federal food assistance, nonprofits will be left with an impossible burden and millions of people will go hungry,” said Diane Yentel, President and CEO, National Council of Nonprofits

New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG)

“Our clients rely on SNAP to feed their families and, if November benefits are not issued or if the USDA prematurely terminates the existing waiver of federal work requirements for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents, SNAP recipients — the majority of whom are children, seniors or people with disabilities — will starve,” said Abby Biberman, Associate Director, New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG)’s Public Benefits Unit. “We are already receiving frantic calls from clients and community members who are desperately worried they will be unable to feed themselves and their families in November, and we anticipate our resources as an organization will be overwhelmed by the catastrophic level of need that would result if millions lose access to food assistance.”

United Way of Rhode Island

“This action is not about politics. It is about the safety of Rhode Islanders, our families, our neighbors, and our community,” said Cortney Nicolato, President and CEO, United Way of RI. “Joining this effort aligns with our mission and our conscience. When Rhode Islanders’ access to food is at risk, we have a responsibility to act, and that commitment does not change or depend on who is in the White House or which party controls Washington. We will continue to stand alongside our partners and the people of Rhode Island to protect the resources that sustain our neighbors and strengthen our communities.”

Business and Union Organizations

Main Street Alliance

“SNAP isn’t just a lifeline for families—it’s a cornerstone of Main Street economies,” said Richard Trent, Executive Director at the Main Street Alliance. “When SNAP payments stop, it hurts more than working families—it hits the small grocers, farmers market vendors, and retailers who serve them every day. The Trump Administration’s refusal to use contingency funds doesn’t just threaten food security—it undermines Main Street and rural communities alike, including the farmers who grow the food SNAP pays for.”

Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

“You can’t claim to care about America’s workers while taking food from our kids,” said Heather Conroy, Executive Vice President of SEIU. “We built this country from the ground up—we’ve mopped the floors, cooked the meals, and kept the lights on. Now the Trump administration wants to take food off our tables? That’s straight-up cruel. We’re in this fight and we won’t back down because every worker deserves the dignity of feeding their family.”

Co counsel

Democracy Forward

“The administration’s callous disregard for the needs of people, including children and senior citizens, is unlawful and immoral. Turning hunger into a political weapon is not governing –it’s cruelty. Instead of using its power to ensure that families can continue to put food on their tables, the Trump-Vance administration is using its power to divide, distract, and deflect responsibility for its own failures to keep the government funded,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “No one should have to wonder whether the government that exists to help them is instead harming them. We are taking this abuse of the public trust and an assault on the rule of law to court.”

Lawyer’s Committee for Rhode Island

“Illegally denying available food benefits to families and children in need must be met with swift, protective, legal action,” said Amy Romero, Chief Legal Counsel of the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island, or LCRI. “That is why LCRI, on behalf of cities and nonprofits in our state and across the country, has taken the Administration to court. Because the best response to a law breaker is a lawyer.”