The US Supreme Court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to use a federal immigration database to verify voter eligibility ahead of the congressional midterm elections in November. The court lifted a lower court injunction that had barred the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from deploying the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program for this purpose.

SAVE, originally created in 1986 to help determine immigration status for federal benefit eligibility, was expanded under a 2025 executive order by President Donald Trump. The updated system now includes information on natural-born US citizens and permits state and local election officials to cross-check voter rolls against Social Security numbers, citizenship status, and other federal data. The administration has also enabled bulk searches, allowing officials to query multiple records using names and birthdates.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., had previously ruled the expanded use of SAVE unlawful, ordering a shutdown of the system’s use for voter eligibility verification. That ruling was upheld by a federal appeals court. Opponents, including voting rights groups, argued that the database produced unreliable results and infringed on privacy protections. They further contended that the Trump administration circumvented Congress and federal laws in expanding the database for election-related purposes.

The Supreme Court’s majority, comprising six conservative justices, issued an unsigned opinion stating that the federal government has an obligation to assist state and local officials in verifying voter citizenship. The ruling emphasized that the lower court’s order prevented the government from using the program it deemed best suited for this task. However, the court also warned that it was too close to the election for states to conduct mass purges of voter rolls under federal law, which prohibits systematic removals within 90 days of an election.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by the court’s two other liberal justices, dissented publicly. She suggested that while the ruling might have minimal immediate impact on the midterms, it raised significant concerns about privacy and administrative overreach. Critics highlight that the expanded SAVE system, now capable of processing over a million requests daily according to DHS filings, may not be sufficiently accurate or transparent.

Participation in the SAVE program remains voluntary for states, and its actual effect on the upcoming midterm elections is expected to be limited due to legal and timing constraints. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court’s decision represents a notable legal win for the Trump administration’s broader efforts to impose stricter voting verification measures.