A federal judge ruled against the Trump administration’s efforts to nationalize elections, deeming the established centralized database containing Americans’ private information illegal.
U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan in Washington, D.C., sided with a voting rights group and a nonprofit that aims to protect privacy, which argued that a recent overhaul of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) violated three different laws.
What Is The SAVE Program?
According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the database – established in 1986 – “is an intergovernmental initiative” that helps federal, state, or local agencies that grant public benefits verify an applicant’s immigration status.
The program aims to “ensure that only entitled applicants receive federal, state, or local public benefits and licenses.”
Trump Administration's "Overhaul"
In 2025, the Trump administration announced an “overhaul” of the program, integrating Social Security Administration (SSA) and passport databases into the program in an effort to encourage state and local officials who oversee elections to use the SAVE system to verify the citizenship or immigration status of individuals trying to vote.
Judge Sooknanan's Opinion
“All in all, the federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote,” Sooknanan wrote. “This Court cannot stand idly by while that happens.”
Judge Sooknanan affirmed that the federal agencies that established the SAVE program “knew that the database violates those statutory protections,” citing Congress's staunch stance against the government centralizing Americans’ sensitive identification information.
The Trump administration defended its use of the database as a "clear congressional directive to break down information silos between government agencies.”
The admin argued that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had the authority to reform the database.
Judge Sooknanan’s decision is a significant setback for President Donald Trump as his administration seeks to use federal agencies to promote a nationwide crackdown on noncitizens illegally registered on state voter rolls.
