Federal Judge Blocks Homeland Security From Using SAVE Database to Check Voter Rolls for Noncitizens

A federal judge ruled Monday that the Department of Homeland Security cannot use its Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system, known as SAVE, to check state voter rolls for noncitizens. The ruling bars the agency from expanding the database beyond its original purpose of confirming eligibility for federal benefits.

Officials had already run more than 60 million names through the system.

SAVE combines records from Social Security, the State Department, Homeland Security and several dozen states. The administration had broadened its use over the past year to help states identify noncitizens who may have registered to vote. A document reviewed this spring showed the system also flagged more than 330,000 names of deceased individuals still listed on voter rolls.

The judge said federal law and the Privacy Act prohibit the expanded use. Evidence presented in the case showed some valid voters were removed after being wrongly flagged and failing to respond to follow-up notices. In one Texas county, one-fourth of voters flagged by SAVE later proved their citizenship.

“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. This court cannot stand idly by while that happens,” the judge stated on June 22, 2026. A Department of Homeland Security general counsel said on social media that opponents are fighting efforts to address problems they claim do not exist.

The League of Women Voters, which brought the lawsuit, called the decision a victory for voters and said federal voter databases threaten the right to participate in elections. In a separate ruling last week, a federal judge in Maryland rejected a Justice Department request for that state’s voter lists, finding that a 1960 civil-rights statute does not cover state voter-registration records.