After declining to turn over data on residents who use food stamps to the federal government, including their immigration status, Hawaiʻi faces the threat of losing tens of millions in funding to operate the food aid program.
Brooke Rollins, secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, vowed in December to withhold the federal funds used to administer the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from states that have not complied.
The state chose not to provide the data because it “is committed to protecting the personal information of individuals applying for and receiving SNAP,” said Scott Morishige, who heads the Department of Human Services division that manages the program…