President Donald Trump's administration has asked the Supreme Court to reinstate its access to a federal database used to verify individuals' immigration status, citing concerns over election security just weeks before the midterm elections. Solicitor General John Sauer petitioned the high court to halt a June ruling that blocked the administration's use of the database, known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system.
Sauer described the lower court's decision as "indefensible" and stated it jeopardizes the security of the upcoming midterm elections. The legal challenge marks the latest in a series of election-related cases where the administration has sought last-minute intervention from the Supreme Court.
The SAVE system, managed by the Department of Homeland Security, is used to confirm an individual's immigration status. Critics of the administration's efforts argue that the database is prone to errors and outdated, leading to the incorrect identification and removal of noncitizens from voter rolls. These critics also contend that the administration's attempts to exert federal control over the voting process, which is primarily managed by individual states, are aimed at disenfranchising voters.
In June, U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan sided with advocacy groups that sued to block the use of the SAVE database. The judge ruled that the system violated the privacy rights of American citizens and posed a risk of disenfranchising eligible voters. This ruling was later upheld by a 2-1 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit earlier this month, prompting the emergency petition to the Supreme Court.
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of the advocacy group Democracy Forward, criticized the administration's actions. "Court after court has rejected the Trump-Vance administration's effort to revive an unlawful system that puts Americans' privacy and fundamental freedom to vote at risk," Perryman said in a statement. "Now, after failing to get its way in the lower courts, the administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene, despite the law being clear that [the Department of Homeland Security's] actions cannot continue."
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who handles emergency appeals from the D.C. Circuit, has given parties one week to submit their arguments to the court. The administration's appeal comes amid President Trump's continued assertions of widespread voter fraud and election security concerns, despite a lack of substantial evidence to support such claims on a large scale.