Story perspectives

Judge Orders DHS to Undo SAVE Data Merge, Protect Voters

6/24/2026

Left

Judge Sooknanan Halts SAVE

Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan ruled the expanded SAVE system combined immigration and Social Security data, endangering privacy and voting rights.
The Department of Homeland Security must revert SAVE to its pre-modification state and cease providing state access to the data.
Sooknanan found the changes violated Social Security Act, 1974 Privacy Act, and Administrative Procedure Act.
League of Women Voters sued, claiming database flagged thousands of especially naturalized voters as non-citizens.

Right

Judge Blocks SAVE

President Donald Trump and Homeland Security officials defended the SAVE system as essential to keep elections limited to U.S. citizens.
A U.S. District Judge blocked the Trump administration’s expanded SAVE voter-verification database, citing potential misidentification of citizens and privacy violations.
DHS counsel James Percival posted on X ruling hinders efforts to stop illegal voting.
The injunction stops states from using the SAVE system, risking changes to election-security grant funding.

History

Historical Context

Created within ICE in 2007 and piloted in Houston in 2008, Secure Communities linked local fingerprints to DHS’s IDENT database, expanding to 1,210 jurisdictions by March 2011 and prompting ACLU lawsuits over privacy. After its 2014 shutdown, a 2017 reinstatement and 2021 revocation set precedent for today’s SAVE system, which again merges Social Security and immigration records.

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Judge Sooknanan Halts SAVE

Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan ruled the expanded SAVE system combined immigration and Social Security data, endangering privacy and voting rights.
The Department of Homeland Security must revert SAVE to its pre-modification state and cease providing state access to the data.
Sooknanan found the changes violated Social Security Act, 1974 Privacy Act, and Administrative Procedure Act.
League of Women Voters sued, claiming database flagged thousands of especially naturalized voters as non-citizens.

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