News and Cases

September 25, 2026

by Abrielle Huang, Boston Latin School

Department of Homeland Security v. League of Women Voters (or Department of Homeland Security v. D.V.D. / Docket 26A406)

In the case of Department of Homeland Security v. D.V.D., by a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) granted a stay for an an emergency application, pausing the United States Court of Appeals of First Circuit's (1st Cir) nationwide injunction, and allowing the Trump administration to move forward with using a modified version of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database to verify voter citizenship. (Note: The 1st Cir. is located in Boston, MA.)

Status: SCOTUS granted review, and oral argument is set to happen in December of 2026.

As a result, the Trump administration is allowed to resume its policy of deporting undocumented immigrants to third countries without a hearing, regardless of the condition of the destinations, while the appeal is pending. 

In a similar case, Department of Homeland Security v. League of Women Voters (Docket 26A308), also by 6-3 vote, SCOTUS granted a stay to the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia (DC Cir.), located in Washington DC, and allowed federal agencies to use an expanded federal database to verify voter citizenship status ahead of the elections. 

As a result, state and local officials can bulk search voter registration lists using Social Security Administration records, which opponents argue could be outdated.

Knowledge base: 

Federal Courts: SCOTUS, the 1st Cir., and the D.D.C. are all federal courts, with SCOTUS being the highest court of the land. They all have one thing in common: that they can only hear cases they have subject matter jurisdiction (authority) over, which means, in the case is of federal questions, disputes that involve the U.S. Constitution, federal statutes passed by the U.S. Congress, or treaties made by the United States. All cases of other issues and disputes are heard by state and local courts.

Stay: A formal court order that acts as a "pause button" in a legal procedure. It allows the parties in dispute to continue their disputed activities until (a) specific condition(s) is(are) met, a pending event occurs, or a certain higher court reviews the case.