Judge blocks Trump admin’s database of Americans’ Social Security numbers and citizenship status

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from creating a database of millions of Americans’ private information—including Social Security numbers and citizenship status—saying the administration has fed knowingly inaccurate data to states that are now “actively” and “haphazardly” purging purported non-citizens from voter rolls. “The federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote,” U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan wrote in a 75-page ruling. “This Court cannot stand idly by while that happens.” Ruling in a lawsuit brought by the League of Women Voters and other advocacy groups, the judge said the Trump administration’s new system—an updated version of the so called “SAVE” database operated by the Department of Homeland Security—combines citizenship data with information from the Social Security Administration to create a clearinghouse that Congress has expressly prohibited.