A federal judge in Washington, D.C., put a stop to the Trump administration’s access to an updated personal information database, stating that the White House had “deliberately trampled on Americans’ privacy rights in a way that threatened the sacred right to vote.”
The Department of Homeland Security revamped its Systematic Alien Eligibility Verification (SAVE) system following President Trump’s executive order from March 2025, which aimed to ensure that only U.S. citizens participate in national elections.
This update included adding natural-born citizens to the registry and enabling bulk searches of the database by using names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers instead of just relying on DHS-issued identification numbers.
U.S. District Judge Sparkle L. Skunanan, in a comprehensive 75-page ruling, pointed out, “Decades ago, Congress enacted safeguards to prevent just this type of centralized databank,” and indicated that the federal agency responsible for the database was aware it breached legal protections.
She noted that government agencies rushed to comply with an executive order aimed at redistricting federal elections, leading them to mishandle the personal information of millions and incorporate unreliable citizenship data. This hasty action allowed states to partner with the federal government to access these databases, actively removing individuals from voter rolls based on inaccurate information.
DHS General Counsel James Percival expressed outrage over the ruling, characterizing the opposition as an attempt to hinder solutions to problems that he asserts are being dismissed. He emphasized this as the latest move obstructing DHS’s efforts regarding foreign voting.
Meanwhile, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller added sarcastically that the ruling suggests America belongs to “every alien on Earth, as our nation’s founding intended.”
The Justice Department reaffirmed its commitment to defend President Trump’s immigration policies and the use of the SAVE system for confirming citizenship.
During Trump’s second term, other election-related proposals have included requiring evidence of citizenship for voter registration, prohibiting the counting of mail-in ballots received after Election Day, and restricting post office ballot mailing to approved voter lists.
These initiatives have faced blocks in various courts, largely because state and congressional authorities, not the president, hold the power to establish election regulations.
Created under immigration law, the SAVE program mandates the DHS’s assistance to various agencies in preventing benefits from being afforded to noncitizens. Since April 2025, around 25 states have utilized it to audit voter rolls. However, concerns arise that the program could inadvertently remove legitimate voters from those lists.
A coalition, including the League of Women Voters and the Electronic Privacy Information Center, filed a lawsuit against the DHS, the Department of Justice, and the Social Security Administration, asserting that the modified SAVE program infringes on the privacy and voting rights of Americans, additionally claiming a lack of transparency regarding the changes and potential violations of federal privacy laws.
