PRESS RELEASE: Coalition Asks Federal Court to Enforce Landmark Ruling Blocking Unlawful SAVE System

Trump-Vance Administration Continues Operating Unlawful SAVE System Despite Federal Court Order

Washington, D.C. —Plaintiffs in League of Women Voters v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security are asking the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia to enforce its landmark June 22 judgment ordering the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system dismantled, after the Trump-Vance administration continued restoring portions of the unlawful system.

Plaintiffs in this case include EPIC, the League of Women Voters, League of Women Voters of Virginia, League of Women Voters of Louisiana, and League of Women Voters of Texas. They are represented by Democracy Forward, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and Fair Elections Center.

Plaintiffs argue that the administration is openly violating the court’s judgment by restoring key features of the modified SAVE system for four states—including Social Security number searches and bulk upload capabilities—even after the court rejected the government’s request to pause its ruling pending appeal. Plaintiffs ask the court to order the administration to immediately comply with its judgment and reserve the right to seek contempt proceedings if the unlawful conduct continues.

On June 22, the D.C. District Court ruled that the Trump-Vance administration’s expansion of the SAVE program violated the Privacy Act, the Social Security Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act. The court vacated the modified SAVE system and the policies that authorized the administration to use Social Security information for expanded voter-verification searches.

Despite that ruling—and despite the court’s subsequent denial of the government’s request to stay the judgment pending appeal—the administration has begun restoring portions of the system for Florida, Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa following a different order in separate litigation in federal court in Florida. Plaintiffs argue that the administration cannot disregard the D.C. court’s judgment simply because it later chose to comply with another order arising from a settlement agreement the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) voluntarily entered into while this case was pending.

The motion further argues that the Social Security Administration has no legal obligation under the Florida case because it is not a party there, yet it has nonetheless resumed providing Social Security data to support the modified SAVE system. Plaintiffs ask the court, at minimum, to order the agency to stop sharing that data immediately.

“Privacy protections and voting rights lose their meaning if agencies feel entitled to flout the court orders that effectuate them,” said EPIC Deputy Director and Director of Enforcement John Davisson. “The administration must be made to halt its use of the illegally bloated SAVE system and comply with the court’s exhaustively reasoned ruling that vacated it.”

“The court’s judgment was clear and unambiguous, and the administration has acknowledged in court filings that they are bound by it,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “The D.C. District Court already ruled that this unlawful expansion of the SAVE system violates federal law and refused the administration’s request to put that decision on hold. Yet instead of complying with that judgment, the administration has chosen to restore the very system the court ordered dismantled. Respect for the rule of law requires more than appealing a decision—it requires obeying it unless and until a higher court says otherwise. We are asking the court to enforce its judgment and ensure that privacy rights and the integrity of our elections are not undermined by an administration that believes it can sidestep the courts.”

The D.C. District Court has instructed the parties to be ready for a hearing on Monday, July 20th, about the arguments on this motion.

Read the filing here and more about this case here.

Please contact [email protected] with requests for further comment. 

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