A Biden-appointed federal judge blocked a modified federal database used to help states identify noncitizens on voter rolls, ruling that the system raised privacy and voting access concerns.
U.S. District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan issued a 75-page opinion setting aside changes to the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system, known as SAVE. The modified system was created after an executive order from President Donald Trump directing federal agencies to help verify the citizenship or immigration status of registered voters and those attempting to register.
The case was brought against the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration and the state of Texas by several plaintiffs, including the League of Women Voters.
Sooknanan wrote that the dispute involved “two fundamental rights that protect Americans from government overreach”: the right to privacy and the right to vote.
The judge took issue with the 2025 version of SAVE, which included records of natural-born American citizens, included access to Social Security Administration data and allowed automated bulk searches rather than individualized citizenship checks.
She ruled that the system ran afoul of congressional limits on centralized government data sharing, including protections established under the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988.
Federal and state defendants argued that immigration law required the federal government to respond to state inquiries about citizenship status. They cited the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which directs federal agencies to verify citizenship or immigration status when states request that information.
Sooknanan rejected that argument, writing that it was “not a winner.”
The ruling arrives as election security remains a major issue heading into the midterms. Republicans have argued that states need stronger tools to ensure only citizens are registered to vote, while verification opponents insist that broad database checks can lead to eligible voters being wrongly flagged or removed.
The decision also comes as Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) continues pushing the SAVE America Act, a GOP-backed election bill requiring government-issued identification to vote.
“The American people OVERWHELMINGLY support this … regardless of political party,” Lee said Sunday on Fox News. “Want to make it easy to vote, HARD TO CHEAT. That’s what the House-passed SAVE America Act does.”
Sooknanan has previously inspired criticism for rulings against the Trump administration, including blocking the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust investigation into Media Matters and barring the executive branch from deporting unaccompanied migrant minors to reunite them with families abroad.
For now, the ruling halts one of the administration’s central tools for helping states conduct citizenship checks on voter rolls, setting up a likely legal fight.
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