Biden Judge Blocks A Common-Sense Voting Safeguard

A federal judge has struck down the Trump Administration’s effort to expand a federal tool for voter verification. 

U.S. District Court Judge Sparkle Sooknanan sided with advocacy groups challenging President Trump’s recent upgrades to the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. The upgrades came under an executive order that the DHS and SSA create a database to allow state and local officials to check the citizenship or immigration status of individuals when they register to vote.

The plaintiffs argued that since the changes were made, the government had incorrectly identified people as noncitizens and purged them from their voter rolls. They also argued that the consolidation of Social Security data was a violation of federal privacy laws. 

The decision is a major blow to Trump’s recent efforts to crack down on illegal voting at the state level. The administration may appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. 

Among the plaintiffs were the League of Women Voters, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and five individuals. 

“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 in a 75-page opinion explaining her decision favoring the advocacy groups.  

The ruling declares that the database violated the Social Security Act, the Privacy Act of 1974, and the Administrative Procedure Act. 

The SAVE system has been used since 1986. The Trump Administration argued that it was well within the authority of the DHS to modernize the database. 

James Percival, general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security blasted the decision in a post on X, accusing the court of left-wing bias and hampering election-integrity efforts. 

“It’s amazing how hard the Left will fight to stop us from solving problems they insist do not exist. Judge Sparkle Sooknanan’s latest ruling preventing DHS from addressing alien voting is just the latest example!” he said.

It’s amazing how hard the Left will fight to stop us from solving problems they insist do not exist. Judge Sparkle Soknanan’s latest ruling preventing DHS from addressing alien voting is just the latest example!

— James Percival (@DHSGenCounsel) June 22, 2026

The ruling does not dismantle the SAVE program. It only blocks the recent expansion for voter registration checks, so the program can still be used to verify immigration status for government benefits.