Democracy Forward Sues USCIS Over Immigration Database Use

Democracy Forward, a legal advocacy group, has initiated a lawsuit against the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in a federal court located in Washington, DC. The lawsuit alleges that USCIS failed to comply with multiple requests made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) concerning the use of federal immigration databases in election-related activities.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are also named as defendants. The organization is specifically seeking documents related to the administration's reported use of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program to verify voter eligibility and citizenship status.

Democracy Forward claims that the agencies did not respond within the required timelines under federal transparency laws, leading to the lawsuit. The case arises amid ongoing debates regarding the Trump administration's efforts to utilize federal immigration records for election purposes.

The lawsuit requests that the court orders USCIS to expedite the processing of these requests to ensure public understanding of the government's actions prior to the 2026 elections.