USCIS Reforms Alien Verification Program

President Donald Trump’s US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced changes to the systematic alien verification for eligibility (SAVE) program. This aims to streamline the process of verifying the qualifications of foreign individuals, including undocumented ones, regarding state voter rolls.

On Thursday, officials from USCIS revealed updates that will enable state election officials to use Social Security Numbers (SSNs) to confirm the citizenship status of voter registrants, which in turn will determine their voting eligibility.

“For a long time, we have been looking for ways to help identify and prevent election fraud,” USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser stated.

The Government’s Ministry of Efficiency (DOGE) reported in April that they found thousands of foreign nationals listed in various state voter databases, indicating that this issue might be more widespread than previously thought.

Essentially, the partnership between USCIS and the Social Security Administration will allow for more efficient verification of citizenship by using SSNs instead of the foreign national numbers typically maintained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The new reforms permit state and local election officials to process one citizenship verification case at a time, as opposed to handling them individually.

Previously, the SAVE program was utilized to validate voter eligibility as well as for driver’s licenses and additional public benefits. However, the Trump administration has removed incentives that encouraged more states and regions to adopt the SAVE program.