Federal Court Strikes Down DHS's Overhauled SAVE Voter-Citizenship Database

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On June 22, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan) granted summary judgment for the plaintiffs and set aside the Trump administration's 2025 overhaul of the SAVE system (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements). The court found that the expanded SAVE — which let states check voter rolls against combined DHS and Social Security Administration citizenship data — violated the Privacy Act of 1974, the Social Security Act's restriction on disclosing Social Security numbers, and the Administrative Procedure Act, calling the changes contrary to law, arbitrary and capricious, and beyond the agencies' authority. The overhauled tool can no longer be used; SAVE returns to its pre-2025 form. The decision can be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Federal Court Strikes Down DHS’s Overhauled SAVE Voter-Citizenship Database

Status: Decided — League of Women Voters v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (SAVE voter-verification overhaul) (No. 1:25-cv-03501-SLS (U.S. District Court, D.D.C.; Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan))

Next step: Watch for a government appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and any motion to stay the order while an appeal is pending.

Verified against the primary source as of 2026-07-25 — status can change with a single court ruling. Official source.

What’s happening

On June 22, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan) granted summary judgment for the plaintiffs and set aside the Trump administration’s 2025 overhaul of the SAVE system (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements). The court found that the expanded SAVE — which let states check voter rolls against combined DHS and Social Security Administration citizenship data — violated the Privacy Act of 1974, the Social Security Act’s restriction on disclosing Social Security numbers, and the Administrative Procedure Act, calling the changes contrary to law, arbitrary and capricious, and beyond the agencies’ authority. The overhauled tool can no longer be used; SAVE returns to its pre-2025 form. The decision can be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Who it affects

Naturalized U.S. citizens — and others whose government records carried outdated or unreliable citizenship data — who risked being wrongly flagged as non-citizens and removed from state voter rolls when states checked registrations against the overhauled SAVE database. The ruling stops states and federal agencies from using the 2025 version of SAVE to verify voter citizenship or trigger roll purges. It does not end immigration-status verification for public benefits, employment (E-Verify), or licensing, which continue under the older, pre-2025 SAVE system.

How it got here

Mar 25, 2025 President Trump signs Executive Order 14248, 'Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,' directing federal agencies to help states verify voter citizenship; DHS overhauls the SAVE system into a searchable database that combines DHS and Social Security Administration records.
Sep 30, 2025 The League of Women Voters, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), and five individuals sue DHS, the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Justice in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing the SAVE overhaul is unlawful.
Jan 21, 2026 Plaintiffs file an amended complaint identifying U.S. citizens who were wrongly flagged as non-citizens or removed from state voter rolls because of the overhauled SAVE system.
Jun 22, 2026 Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan grants summary judgment for the plaintiffs and sets aside the 2025 SAVE overhaul, ruling it violated the Privacy Act, the Social Security Act's bar on disclosing Social Security numbers, and the Administrative Procedure Act. The overhauled tool can no longer be used.

What to watch next

Watch for a government appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and any motion to stay the order while an appeal is pending.

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This page is general information about ongoing litigation, not legal advice. A case’s status can change with a single ruling, and outcomes can turn on facts specific to each person. For advice on a specific situation, consult a licensed immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative.

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Where does it stand right now?

On June 22, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan) granted summary judgment for the plaintiffs and set aside the Trump administration’s 2025 overhaul of the SAVE system (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements). The court found that the expanded SAVE — which let states check voter rolls against combined DHS and Social Security Administration citizenship data — violated the Privacy Act of 1974, the Social Security Act’s restriction on disclosing Social Security numbers, and the Administrative Procedure Act, calling the changes contrary to law, arbitrary and capricious, and beyond the agencies’ authority. The overhauled tool can no longer be used; SAVE returns to its pre-2025 form. The decision can be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Watch for a government appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and any motion to stay the order while an appeal is pending.

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