California Attorney General Rob Bonta, along with 17 other state attorneys general, has voiced opposition to the Trump Administration’s recent expansion of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. The coalition argues that the move would allow the collection and use of personal data from U.S.-born citizens who have never interacted with immigration authorities and did not consent to such use.
In a letter addressed to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Bonta and his counterparts contend that expanding SAVE represents a significant privacy risk. They point out that this action comes amid ongoing efforts by DHS to gather large amounts of personal information from various sources.
“The Trump Administration has made no secret of its plan to build a mass surveillance machine. The expansion of SAVE to include data on U.S. citizens is the latest salvo in this dystopian power grab,” said Attorney General Bonta. “What’s worse is that the Department of Homeland Security is only now formally informing the public of this plan — despite making many of these changes to SAVE months ago. I urge the Department to rescind this ill-advised plan that exposes Americans’ private data to potential misuse by the federal government and external actors alike without providing sufficient safeguards.”
The SAVE program, managed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), allows state and local agencies to verify immigration status for people applying for benefits or licenses, such as driver’s licenses or federal assistance programs like SNAP or Medicaid. On October 31, 2025, DHS issued a notice expanding SAVE access to include all natural-born U.S. citizens, enabling searches using Social Security numbers, passport numbers, and driver’s license numbers. DHS also introduced new rules allowing disclosure of information for federal audits at state and local levels and permitting batch searches across multiple cases.
Bonta and other attorneys general argue that these changes could increase errors in verifying citizenship or immigration status due to reliance on multiple data sources. Such inaccuracies could force states like California into time-consuming verification processes and may delay or deny benefits for eligible individuals or wrongly flag them for investigation.
The coalition also warns that broadening access makes sensitive personal information more vulnerable to hacking attempts or exploitation by foreign entities. The risk increases when third parties are given access without clear oversight.
Furthermore, they assert that adding records of natural-born citizens without their consent violates provisions in the Privacy Act of 1974 regarding individual participation in how their data is used.
Attorney General Bonta reaffirmed his commitment to protecting Californians’ private information from unwarranted federal intrusion. He referenced previous legal actions where he blocked federal agencies from accessing sensitive health data and challenged demands for states to share SNAP recipients’ personal details.
Attorneys general from New York, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont joined California in submitting comments opposing the expansion.
