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DHS’s Expanded SAVE Tool Mislabels Voters as Noncitizens

A rushed rollout using incomplete federal records is producing false matches that trigger investigations.

Overview

  • An investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found the DHS system is repeatedly flagging citizens as noncitizens and in some cases referring them for possible criminal probes.
  • In Boone County, Missouri, 74 voters were flagged, yet documentation showed more than half were citizens, including a man registered at his naturalization ceremony.
  • Texas county officials reported at least 87 affected voters across 29 counties after similar misidentifications tied to the federal database.
  • Across about 35 million registered voters reviewed in seven states, roughly 4,200 people were identified as noncitizens, indicating an extremely small share.
  • President Trump ordered the expansion that pooled Social Security and other federal data via DOGE, and a USCIS official said the tool was stood up in about two weeks as 27 states opted in while others hesitated over accuracy and privacy concerns.