This bill would update the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. It directs the Department of Homeland Security, through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, to modernize SAVE so verification responses are more accurate, faster, and work better with other systems. Required actions include upgrading query infrastructure, adding automated data reconciliation, expanding API access for authorized agencies, and adding a user feedback mechanism. The bill asks that changes to an individual's immigration status be reflected in SAVE within 24 hours when practicable. It calls for integration with other DHS systems, memoranda of understanding with the Social Security Administration and other federal agencies for authorized data sharing, and voluntary data-sharing with state vital records where allowed. SAVE must notify querying agencies if an individual's status materially changes after a prior verification when that change matters for eligibility. The bill limits data shown in SAVE to what is needed for verification, bans adding non-immigration criminal databases to SAVE, and bars use of SAVE for general law enforcement or surveillance. Automated tools may be used only for reconciliation, error reduction, and identity matching; no adverse eligibility decision may be made solely by automation, human review is required for contested or negative results, and DHS must test for accuracy and bias and submit summary results to Congress each year. The bill also prohibits charging fees to federal, state, local, or Tribal government agencies for SAVE queries. It requires a SAVE modernization plan within 180 days, annual Inspector General audits, corrective action plans within 90 days if the IG finds material noncompliance, and allows Congress to limit funds or suspend queries for continued noncompliance. The act becomes effective one year after enactment, except planning and reporting requirements take effect immediately.
No publicly available information on estimated costs or required appropriations is included in the bill text. The bill directs modernization, audits, and reporting, but does not specify funding levels or cost estimates.
No direct statements from outside proponents are in the bill text. The bill itself frames the changes as steps to modernize SAVE and improve accuracy, timeliness, interoperability, and safeguards against improper automated decisions. It also highlights protections to limit data scope and to prohibit fee charges for government queries.
No publicly available information on opposition or specific concerns is included in the bill text.