U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins speaks during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on U.S. President Donald Trump's supplemental funding request for the Department of Defense, in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 21, 2026. REUTERS/Eric Lee
A majority-Latino neighborhood in The Bronx was deprived of a food source after a Trump administration sting banned food stamps at a popular bodega over an alleged bottle of Clorox, a new lawsuit contends.
Naji Shagera Al Yafai, the sole owner of Black Olive Gourmet Inc., sued President Donald Trump's Agriculture Department in federal court in Manhattan on July 23, seeking to reverse the ban, federal court records show.
The store had an "exemplary and unblemished" record in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program since joining in 2023, the complaint says.
Undercover federal agents made three visits to the store from Aug. 5–7, 2025, the complaint alleges. On the first day, an agent allegedly purchased a bottle of Clorox and a bottle of Mistolin all-purpose cleaner using SNAP benefits — ineligible for non-food items. The total value of all ineligible items across the investigation came to less than $3, the filing says.
The complaint argues a Food and Nutrition Service investigator used "excessive pressure and manipulative tactics in their attempt to compel the clerk into committing a violation of the SNAP regulations."
On Aug. 7, the investigator asked a clerk whether they could exchange SNAP benefits for cash. The clerk said no, according to the filing.
No video or audio was recorded during any of the three visits, according to the complaint. Investigators also failed to positively identify the clerk who allegedly made the sale, the filing states.
The agency's conduct, the complaint says, was "coercive and unconscionable." Targeting a store with no prior violations, it argues, was "patently unethical and prejudicial."
The Agriculture Department upheld the six-month ban in a final decision delivered June 30, the complaint states. Al Yafai's attorney had argued the disqualification would cause "hardship to the community."
The Jerome Avenue corridor is more than 94% Latino or Black, according to city planning data, with a median household income of $26,226 — roughly half the New York City median. The area's 345,000 residents face unemployment of 17.7%, nearly double the citywide rate.
The lawsuit lands as Trump's USDA has taken action against nearly 3,200 retailers since the administration began, according to the agency. Separately, CNBC reported that 4.3 million fewer Americans received SNAP benefits in February 2026 than a year earlier — a backdrop Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins addressed in January.
"It can cost around $3 a meal for a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, corn tortilla and one other thing," Rollins said dismissively on NewsNation.