A federal judge has prohibited the use of a recently modified federal tool, known as Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE), which was central to the Trump administration’s efforts to nationalize election security. The court found that the program’s upgrades unlawfully aggregated sensitive personal data, creating a risk of wrongly purging eligible American voters from voter rolls. This decision marks a significant legal setback for the administration’s initiatives to combat noncitizen voting and raises questions about the future of such federal election oversight tools.
Read More
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that an executive order requiring banks to collect citizenship information from customers is “in process,” a move intended to enhance security and prevent access by foreign terrorist organizations. This proposed policy, supported by some lawmakers who believe access to the banking system should be a privilege for law-abiding individuals, has raised concerns among banking experts. They warn that the order could inadvertently disenfranchise millions of Americans, including some of the policy’s potential supporters, who may lack the required documentation such as passports or birth certificates, leading to them being “debanked.” While similar citizenship checks are standard practice in international banking for anti-money-laundering purposes, the broad application and potential impact on American citizens without readily available documentation remain significant concerns.
Read More
John Q. Hosedrinker