In blow to Trump, federal judge blocks DHS from using citizenship database to purge voters

[LetMyPeopleVote]

trump's plan to develop his own database of eligible voters and use this to purge voters he does not like is NOT going to work. trump has sued a number of states to get this data and has lost every lawsuit. I am pissed that asshole Greg Abbott gave trump the data base for Texas voters

In blow to Trump, federal judge blocks DHS from using citizenship database to purge voters
www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

— Jacob Knutson (@jaknutson.bsky.social) 2026-06-22T18:14:13.777Z

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/in-blow-to-trump-federal-judge-blocks-dhs-from-using-citizenship-database-to-purge-voters/

A federal judge in Washington D.C. blocked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from using its citizenship database to remove voters from registration rolls, striking a significant blow against President Donald Trump’s unconstitutional attempt to take control of federal elections.

In her decision Monday, District Court Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan excoriated Trump and DHS’s implementation of his March 25 executive order for ignoring federal privacy laws as they overhauled the Systemic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system into a faulty citizenship checker.

“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,” District Court Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan wrote. “This Court cannot stand idly by while that happens.”

The League of Women Voters led a coalition of voting and privacy advocates in challenging the changes to SAVE last year, suing DHS, the Social Security Administration (SSA) and other federal actors. While Sooknanan declined to issue a stay last November, she granted a summary judgment Monday, saying that the modification of the SAVE system violated the Social Security Act’s prohibition on disclosing social security numbers, various provisions of the 1974 Privacy Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

[MineralMan]

1. Good! Predictable, but good!

I've been waiting for this ruling.

[oasis]

2. Federal judge comes through for democracy again!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Blistering new ruling finds Trump's agencies 'knowingly trampled' on a sacred right

This opinion made me smile

The White House’s revamped voter-citizenship database has been ruled illegal. A federal judge noted that the centralized system illegally swept up the private data of millions of Americans, wrongly flagging many U.S. citizens as non-citizens.

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-06-22T19:05:37Z

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-voter-fraud-2677076169

A federal judge on Monday struck down the Trump administration's revamped voter-citizenship database, ruling that federal agencies broke the law by building a centralized system that swept up the private data of millions of Americans and wrongly flagged U.S. citizens as non-citizens.

In a sharply worded opinion, U.S. District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan vacated the 2025 overhaul of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, system, along with two related privacy notices issued by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. She found the changes violated the Social Security Act, the Privacy Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act

"[T]he federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote," Sooknanan wrote. "This Court cannot stand idly by while that happens."

The overhaul followed President Donald Trump's March 2025 executive order on elections that expanded SAVE to include records of natural-born citizens, tap Social Security data including SSNs, as well as let states run their entire voter rolls through the system in bulk.

The judge, an appointee of President Joe Biden, noted internal records showed the agencies knew the database was "not in compliance" with the Privacy Act and that accuracy shortfalls "could cause incomplete or false results." Naturalized citizens with outdated Social Security files were among those wrongly flagged as non-citizens, with some forced to prove citizenship within 30 days or lose their registrations. An investigation in one Texas county found a quarter of the system's "non-citizen matches" were people who had already proven citizenship, the court filing detailed.

Here is a link to the 75-page opinion
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.285454/gov.uscourts.dcd.285454.111.0_1.pdf

[dalton99a]

9. +1

[Raven123]

4. I'm a little confused.

She didn’t issue a stay in November, but now declared summary judgement. Was this declaration issued in time to achieve its stated goal?

[Sweet Rosie Red]

5. Does this mean his attempts to get the SAVE act attached to bills in Congress are moot?

Serious question. I’ve been holding my breath over this one forever, for my sisters, daughters in law, nieces, grand daughters and everyone in this country. I applied for my passport card last week in case he puts ICE at polling stations. As a resident of Minnesota, I've seen what that “man” is willing to do to people, and I will not let him have my vote without a fight. I will keep contacting my reps if it could still pass!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. No, trump was trying to use an Executive Order to get the same thing as the SAVE Act

If Congress passes the SAVE Act, many of these provisions might become legal. In the alternative, the SAVE Act will depress the vote and help the GOP./trump to win without this illegal executive order

[Sweet Rosie Red]

8. Thank You!

I will keep contacting.

[malaise]

6. What about the Federal government does not run elections

do these MAGAts fail to understand?