Supreme Court allows expanded SAVE citizenship-verification system to operate during appeal
Caroline MolloyThe U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 25 granted the federal government’s request for a stay, allowing an expanded version of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, system to operate while litigation over the program continues.
The modified system allows state and local officials to conduct citizenship-verification queries using additional federal records, including Social Security Administration data, and to submit bulk searches involving multiple individuals. The administration says the system assists election officials in checking voter eligibility.
In Department of Homeland Security v. League of Women Voters, the Court voted 6-3 to pause a lower-court order that had blocked the modified system. The majority concluded at this stage that the challengers’ statutory claims were unlikely to succeed and said federal law authorizes information-sharing concerning citizenship status.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. The dissent argued that the modified system could burden or disenfranchise lawful voters and questioned the government’s legal authority for the expanded data-sharing arrangement.
The Supreme Court’s order is not a final judgment on the underlying case. The appeal and challenges involving the SAVE system’s legality and use of personal data remain pending in the lower courts.
