Democracy Forward Sues USCIS for Withholding Records on the Use of Immigration Databases in Elections
August 5, 2026 - Washington, D.C. — Democracy Forward on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 
Services (USCIS) after the agency failed to comply with multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking records about the Trump-Vance administration’s efforts to use immigration systems in connection with voter registration, voter roll maintenance, and other election-related activities ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The lawsuit seeks records related to the administration’s implementation of Executive Order 14399, which directs federal agencies to help verify U.S. citizenship for federal elections by compiling and sharing citizenship data with states; communications among senior USCIS officials about elections; the U.S. Department of Justice’s use of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program for voter registration and voter roll maintenance activities; agreements involving mail-in and absentee ballot datasets; and internal planning documents regarding the use of immigration databases to review voter rolls. Democracy Forward also challenges USCIS’s refusal to expedite the requests despite the urgent public interest in understanding the federal government’s role in election administration before Americans cast their ballots.
“The Trump-Vance administration can’t claim it’s protecting elections while hiding the facts from the public,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “Americans deserve evidence, not rhetoric. The government is asserting unprecedented and unconstitutional authority over election administration while refusing to disclose the policies, data, and communications behind those actions. In a democracy, public confidence in our elections depends on transparency, accountability, and adherence to the rule of law. Our team is honored to bring this suit to uncover for the American people what the administration is hiding.”
FOIA requires agencies to promptly respond to requests for records, particularly where there is an urgent need to inform the public about government activity. Despite that obligation, USCIS failed to make timely determinations on Democracy Forward’s requests and denied expedited processing, even as the administration continues to publicly promote its election citizenship verification efforts.
The lawsuit asks the court to order USCIS to process the requests on an expedited basis and produce the requested records so the public can understand the federal government’s actions before the 2026 elections.
The case is Democracy Forward Foundation v. USCIS, and the legal team in this case includes Amy Vickery, Daniel McGrath, Ronald Fein, and Robin F. Thurston.
Read the complaint here.
Source: Democracy Forward
