The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program: A Fact Sheet

The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program is an online electronic system operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) which aims to provide immigration status information to federal, state, and local government agencies seeking to determine an individual’s eligibility for public benefits. SAVE is not itself a database of citizenship and immigration status, but rather a tool used to query various other federal databases to determine a person’s immigration status. SAVE provides generally accurate results, but because the federal databases which it queries may themselves contain inaccurate or outdated information, SAVE is not a foolproof mechanism for determining a person’s immigration status.

In 2025, the Trump administration announced an “overhaul” of SAVE: the administration integrated Social Security Administration (SSA) and passport databases into the program as part of a broader effort to push state agencies that manage elections to use the system to verify prospective voters’ immigration status and eligibility to vote.¹ Experts have expressed concern with the system’s drastic expansion, particularly over integrating sensitive databases designed and intended for other purposes into one centralized repository.

The Trump administration’s overhaul prompted a lawsuit to stop the SSA from sharing social security information with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, USCIS’ parent agency. On September 25, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court, in an emergency decision, sided with the government, allowing the Trump administration to implement the aggregation of social security information into SAVE.²

This fact sheet explains SAVE, the process through which it verifies an individual’s immigration status, and some of the concerns associated with its operation and recent expansion.

Background

In 1986, Congress determined that employment of undocumented immigrants acted as a “significant magnet” for irregular migration to the United States.³ As such, Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) in 1986,⁴ which introduced civil and criminal penalties to employers who knowingly hired undocumented immigrants or those without proper work authorization and prohibited agencies from granting immigrants without work authorization specified federal public benefits.⁵ IRCA required noncitizen benefit applicants to show proof of lawful immigration status at the time of application and directed the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to establish a nationwide, automated electronic system for verifying an individual’s immigration status.⁶

To comply with the Congressional mandate, the INS established SAVE in 1987 to allow agencies to verify the status of immigrants, non-immigrants, and naturalized citizens applying for certain publicly-funded benefits.⁷ Over time, subsequent legislation has modified and expanded the role of SAVE in the immigration status verification process.

What is the SAVE Program?

SAVE is an online tool that allows agencies that grant government benefits (such as Medicaid, food stamps, cash assistance programs, etc.)⁸ or licenses (such as driver‘s licenses, identification cards, professional licenses, occupational licenses, etc.)⁹ to noncitizens to verify a noncitizen’s citizenship and immigration status. SAVE is not a database,¹⁰ nor does it contain a comprehensive record of U.S. citizens (the United States government does not maintain such a database). It also does not determine an applicant’s eligibility for benefits or licenses.¹¹

Rather, SAVE is a querying tool registered agencies can use to gather information from various government databases to verify an individual’s immigration status. After acquiring the necessary information, the agency (not SAVE) determines the noncitizen’s eligibility for certain benefits.¹²

Why Did the Trump Administration “Overhaul” the SAVE Program?

One of President Trump’s campaign promises was to combat alleged election fraud. On March 25, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14248 “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections” to “safeguard American elections” and “guard against dilution by illegal voting, discrimination, fraud, and other forms of malfeasance and error.”¹³ USCIS thereafter began its overhaul of SAVE to transform it into a single, comprehensive source “to help verify U.S. citizenship and prevent aliens from voting in American elections.”¹⁴ USCIS announced the following changes:

• April 22, 2025: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced a “comprehensive optimization” of the SAVE database to ensure a “single, reliable source for verifying noncitizen status nationwide.”¹⁵ Prior to the overhaul, in Fiscal Year 2025, non-federal agencies had to pay $1.50 per query,¹⁶ but the optimization eliminated all fees for non-federal agencies; allowed agencies to perform bulk searches instead of individual ones; and integrated criminal records, immigration timelines, and addresses into the system.
• May 22, 2025: USCIS deployed the updated SAVE Program. In partnership with the SSA, state and local authorities can now input Social Security Numbers (SSNs) into SAVE to help verify immigration status.¹⁷
• October 31, 2025: USCIS linked SAVE with the Department of State’s passport database, driver’s license databases, and information from the SSA so that agencies can look people up with a passport number, driver’s license number, and other SSA information.¹⁸ With the May and October updates, SAVE includes information about U.S. citizens, including citizens by birth, who have never interacted with the immigration system.¹⁹

Who Uses SAVE?

SAVE provides immigration status verification services to nearly 4,000 agencies.²⁰ A government agency is eligible to use SAVE if it is a federal, state, or local benefit-granting agency that is authorized by law to engage in any such activity or provide a benefit for which immigration status verification is required. In May 2025, USCIS expanded SAVE to permit state voting agencies (such as the Secretary of State, Supervisor of Elections, and County Supervisor of Elections²¹) to submit queries to determine an individual’s eligibility to vote. As of March 2026, over 70 voting agencies across at least 24 states use SAVE.²²

Private companies or individuals cannot verify immigration status through SAVE except for private airport operators authorized under the Federal Aviation Act.²³

Before an agency can use SAVE, it must first register with USCIS. If the agency meets the eligibility criteria to participate in SAVE, the agency is required to execute a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)²⁴ with USCIS that outlines the purpose of and responsibilities for participation in the program.²⁵

Where Does SAVE Draw its Information From?

The Verification Information System (VIS) database is the underlying central information technology that supports the SAVE program. This is a composite system with over 100 million records ²⁶ that draws on various DHS and SSA databases.²⁷

As of March 2026, VIS draws on the following databases to verify status:

USCIS Systems:²⁸

• Central Index System
• Electronic Immigration System
• Computer Linked Application Information Management System 3 (CLAIMS 3)
• Enterprise Citizenship and Immigration Services Centralized Operational Repository
• GLOBAL (case-tracking system)
• RAILS (records-tracking system)
• Customer Profile Management System
• Salesforce Customer Relationship Management Customer Relationship Management

Department of Homeland Security Systems:²⁹

• DHS OneNet
• DHS Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP)
• ICE Enforcement Integrated Database
• CBP Arrival and Departure Information System
• Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Office of Intelligence and Analysis (OIA) Technology Infrastructure Modernization Program (TIM)

Other Federal Agency Systems:³⁰

• U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command Integrated Resource System
• U.S. Department of Education Federal Student Aid Central Processing System
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
• SSA Numerical Identity Files (Numident) System
• U.S. Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration’s Immigration Review Information Exchange System
• U.S. Department of State Consular Consolidated Database
• U.S. Department of State American Citizen Record Query System

How Does the SAVE Verification Process Work?

A SAVE check can take up to three steps to complete.

Initial Verification:

The first step is the initial verification, which is an automated search of several DHS databases for records that match the information submitted by the benefits or election agency.³¹ Agencies can search names individually or in bulk.³² To run a search on immigration status, the agency needs a first name, last name and date of birth; the benefit or license requested; and a unique numeric identifier.³³

The system provides an automated response with the applicant’s current immigration status or prompts the agency to institute additional verification.³⁴ In over 85 percent of cases, SAVE returns an automated response ³⁵as an “Eligibility Statement” message which indicates whether agency records can confirm the individual is a U.S. Citizen or a noncitizen. If they are a noncitizen, the response indicates their immigration status and whether they are authorized to work.³⁶ When a SAVE case is created using the benefit applicant’s name, date of birth, and SSN, the initial verification will now provide one of the following responses:³⁷

• United States Citizen (per SSA Record);
• United States National;
• Immigration Enumerator Required — Resubmit with Additional Information;
• No Record Found with SSA — Resubmit with Additional Information;
• Unable to Return Record from SSA — Resubmit with Additional Information;
• Full SSN Required — Resubmit with Additional Information; or
• Deceased (per SSA Record).

Additional Verification:

If SAVE cannot provide a response after initial verification, the user agency may be instructed to submit the case for additional (manual) verification, or create a new SAVE case with corrected or additional information.³⁸ Additional verification response times take approximately 14 federal workdays.³⁹ CaseCheck, an online tool on USCIS’s website, allows applicants to check the status of their verification case.⁴⁰

Third-Step Verification:

In instances where the electronic process is unable to verify the individual’s status, the agency must submit photocopies of the applicant’s relevant immigration documents using the Scan and Upload function in the SAVE system. Agencies should receive a response within three to five federal working days.⁴¹

Is SAVE Monitored to Ensure that it Contains Accurate Information?

In 2017, USCIS claimed to conduct monthly checks to help ensure that SAVE is accurately reporting information contained in its source systems.⁴² USCIS has not reported any recent statistics, but in 2017, USCIS claimed that SAVE status verifiers who conducted research during the additional verification process accurately reported the individual’s status 99 percent of the time.⁴³

If an agency believes the initial response was incorrect or incomplete, they can escalate a case for additional verification after receiving an initial response. Escalating to additional verification allows SAVE to conduct a manual search of the relevant databases.⁴⁴

Individuals may also request access to the information USCIS maintains by submitting a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and providing their Alien Registration Number and/or full name, date, and place of birth, and return address.⁴⁵ USCIS will compare the documents with the information in the program and cross-reference other USCIS VIS databases. If USCIS confirms the information is incorrect, the SAVE program will contact the appropriate system owner recommending that the data be corrected.⁴⁶

Privacy Protections Under SAVE

What Privacy Protections Exist?

Agencies using SAVE are responsible for ensuring that individuals’ personal information is used in a nondiscriminatory way and only for the purposes outlined in the MOA. All users are required to comply with the Privacy Act and must implement the following safeguards:

• allow only authorized users to access SAVE;
• secure access to SAVE by requiring account names and encrypting passwords when making database connections;⁴⁷
• ensure any potential breaches of information are reported within one hour of being found;⁴⁸
• each registered agency provides notice to individuals within their jurisdiction of their use of information and sharing with USCIS;⁴⁹
• use and distribute personal information only for official purposes on a need-to-know basis;⁵⁰
• maintain accurate information and correct inaccurate or erroneous information by providing individuals with the opportunity to submit written requests to contest or amend their information;⁵¹
• require users to complete a web-based training course that explains functionality and security requirements;⁵²
• staff who administer SAVE must take special, role-based training;⁵³

What Privacy Protections DO NOT Exist?

While USCIS takes measures to protect personally identifiable information, it has also stated that it cannot mitigate, or can only partially mitigate, certain privacy risks:

• USCIS partially mitigates the risk that U.S. citizens, including natural born citizens, have not been provided notice that SAVE collects and maintains their information for citizenship and immigration status by asking each registered agency to provide notice to individuals;⁵⁴
• U.S. citizens do not have the opportunity to participate or consent in how USCIS uses their information.⁵⁵

How are Agencies Monitored to Ensure They Are Using SAVE Appropriately?

Under the MOA that user agencies sign with USCIS, SAVE’s Monitoring & Compliance (M&C) Branch is authorized to:⁵⁶

• monitor and review all SAVE system usage patterns, training records, user access, and other relevant data;
• conduct site visits and desk audits to review compliance; and
• take corrective measures in a timely manner to address all lawful requirements.

Despite the existence of the M&C Branch, many state and local agencies do not always complete the required additional verification steps, as described below.

Are There Any Concerns Regarding the Recent Updates to SAVE?

While the Trump administration touts the use of SAVE as a boost for election integrity, thousands of individuals have expressed concern with the program’s recent expansion. When changes were announced, USCIS received over 9,300 comments⁵⁷ before the December 1, 2025, comment deadline regarding the recent overhaul — approximately 98 percent⁵⁸ opposed the expansion.

SAVE Was Not Created for Election-Integrity Purposes

A main point of contention among concerned parties is that SAVE was not built for election-integrity purposes. Experts have identified numerous flaws in SAVE’s querying system. The most recent System of Records Notice and Privacy Impact Assessment state that agencies must use an individual’s first and last name, date of birth, and at least one enumerator — which now includes the last four digits of the SSN when querying the system.⁵⁹

Because multiple people can share the same last four digits of a Social Security number and/or birth date, experts remain concerned about creating massive false-match risks.⁶⁰ Additionally, news reports have already identified naturalized citizens flagged as “potential noncitizens.”⁶¹

False-positives when querying individuals through SAVE has been a longstanding issue. In 2012, despite the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Divisions concerns,⁶² DHS entered into an agreement with the Florida Department of State to use the SAVE system to verify the citizenship status of registered voters claiming SAVE is the most accurate and comprehensive resource available to verify the status of potential noncitizens on Florida’s voter rolls.⁶³ But shortly after implementation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held the use of SAVE to purge voter lists illegal, due to the significant number of false positive the querying system produced.⁶⁴

Following the Trump administration’s expansion of SAVE, local officials across the country have reported at least 87 individuals across 29 counties were incorrectly flagged in SAVE as potential noncitizens.⁶⁵ County election administrators suspect there may be more.⁶⁶

Furthermore, USCIS created SAVE for agencies to determine an individual’s immigration status and eligibility for certain public benefits, not election purposes. There are over 10,000 state, county and local election offices,⁶⁷ each of which may adopt different election procedures.⁶⁸ The high variability in election rules across states, counties, and municipalities has sparked concern that the use of SAVE cannot be implemented in a uniform manner.⁶⁹

The Trump Administration is Linking Databases in Unprecedented Ways

Many organizations have expressed broader concerns with the Trump administration’s efforts to combine and link different government datasets in unprecedented ways.⁷⁰ SAVE has expanded from a tool solely granted to benefit-granting agencies to determine an immigrant’s status when applying for public benefits, to what experts have deemed as “effectively an amalgamated database that can research hundreds of thousands of voters at once.”⁷¹

SSA alleges that their agency is not responsible for making citizenship determinations — individuals merely report their citizenship status to the agency when they apply for a Social Security number (SSN). On one hand, SSA only began to consistently maintain citizenship in 1981. On the other, SSA does not have citizenship information for all individuals who have been issued a SSN. Furthermore, an individual is under no obligation to report to SSA a change in their immigration status unless they are receiving social security ⁷² As such, the information SSA holds may not be fully accurate.

Furthermore, the personal information being consolidated is extraordinarily sensitive as it includes millions of SSNs, biometric data, tax information, wage and employment records, medical and disability records, and more. Critics call the vast consolidation of personally identifiable information a “data lake” a “bullseye” for hackers to target what was until recently, the most closely protected — personally identifiable info.⁷³

SCOTUS Approves the Trump Administration’s Overhaul of the SAVE System

Shortly after the Trump administration announced the May 2025 changes to SAVE, several organizations, including the League of Women Voters, sued U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to stop implementation of the overhaul.⁷⁴ The litigants’ principal argument was that SAVE modifications violated the confidentiality provisions of the Social Security Act and the Privacy Act, which prohibit disclosure of certain personal information, including SSNs.⁷⁵ The litigants also raised concerns about the potential disenfranchisement of people who may be erroneously identified as lacking U.S. citizenship through the SAVE system. The organizations obtained a favorable decision at the district court level, which prohibited DHS from implementing the SAVE modifications.⁷⁶ DHS sought to temporarily set aside the court’s decision, but the court denied such request.⁷⁷ The agency then appealed this denial to the D.C. Circuit Court, which also denied DHS’ request.⁷⁸

DHS appealed the denial to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the Trump administration—allowing DHS to go through with the planned changes to SAVE.⁷⁹ As part of its emergency docket, a majority of the Court accepted DHS’ argument that certain sections of the immigration laws expressly authorize DHS to request and receive information about a person’s immigration status. In her dissent, joined by two other justices, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson noted that the provisions of the immigration law relied upon by the majority were not meant to grant the government any affirmative authority, only to prohibit government entities or employees from interfering with lawful exchanges of citizenship information.⁸⁰

Thus, the Court’s decision allows the SSA to link its database with SAVE and state users to upload bulk queries to the system. The state entity can then use the information to challenge the voting registration of individuals who do not show up in the database as U.S. citizens. Registered voters can present evidence to overcome the challenge, but such process can be cumbersome, and if not completed in time, render U.S. citizens ineligible to vote. Justice Jackson noted that the majority dismissed these concerns.⁸¹

For the November 2026 midterm elections, state entities could only use the SAVE system to conduct individualized inquiries rather than systemic voter clean ups due to restrictions in federal voting laws. For future elections, however, use of the SAVE system for this unintended purpose may subject thousands of eligible voters to the burden of having to navigate an additional bureaucratic process in order to exercise their right to vote.