The U.S. government, through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), announced this Thursday, May 22, a major update to its immigration status verification system to confirm the citizenship of individuals seeking to register to vote in federal elections.
The measure is part of a new push by President Donald Trump to, according to his administration, “ensure the integrity of the vote” in the upcoming elections. However, civil rights organizations and migrant community advocates fear that this initiative could lead to confusion, undue exclusion or voter intimidation, especially among naturalized citizens.
What is the SAVE program and what is it for?
The updated program is called SAVE, which stands for Systematic Alien Verification for Access to Entitlements.
It was created in 1987 and, until now, was used primarily for state and local agencies to verify whether a person was eligible for public benefits, such as medical assistance or housing assistance, based on their immigration status.
New in 2025 is that SAVE will also be used to confirm the citizenship of naturalized voters, thanks to a new cooperative agreement with the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Esto permitirá cruzar datos entre ambas agencias para determinar si una persona puede registrarse legalmente como votante en EEUU
QuéOnnda.com
Why now?
This change occurs in a tense political context.
President Trump has revived his rhetoric around voter fraud, despite the fact that there is no evidence that undocumented citizens voted in past elections, such as the 2020 election.
However, the new policy includes an executive order signed by Trump, which requires any citizen wishing to register to vote to provide documentation proving their citizenship, such as birth certificates or naturalization certificates.
Florida was one of the first states to request access to the SAVE system to detect possible non-citizens on voter rolls.
Now, USCIS has invited all state and local governments to register in the system to do the same.
Does this affect immigrants?
According to USCIS, the objective of the program is not to persecute immigrants, but to prevent erroneous registrations.
But immigration advocates fear that the system could produce false positives, that is, that people who are naturalized citizens will be improperly flagged as ineligible to vote.
This may generate fear and distrust among those who have met all the legal requirements to vote, particularly naturalized Latino immigrants, who represent a growing bloc in the electorate of key states such as Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, Florida and California.
SAVE is not the same as E-Verify.
Buzzy
It is important to clarify that SAVE is not the same as E-Verify.
While E-Verify is used by employers to check the immigration status of their employees, SAVE is a program used by government entities to verify eligibility for public benefits or, now, voter registration.
What you should know if you are a naturalized voter:
Verify that your information is correct in the electoral registry of your state.
Keep a copy of your certificate of naturalization or valid U.S. passport.
Don’t be intimidated: if you are a citizen, no one can deny you the right to vote.
Contact local civil rights organizations if you need advice.
For more news, visit QuéOnnda.com.
