VERIFY Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill updates the SAVE program, which is the system government agencies use to check if a person's immigration status allows them to receive certain public benefits. The goal is to make the system faster and more accurate so people do not face long delays or mistakes when applying for help.
• The policy requires the Department of Homeland Security to update a person's status in the system within 24 hours of any change. This ensures that if someone gets a new permit or their status changes, the agencies checking the system see the most current information almost immediately.
• To protect privacy, the bill prevents the system from being used for general police work or looking up criminal records. It also requires a real person to review any case before a benefit is denied, meaning a computer cannot automatically reject someone's application without human oversight.
• Federal, state, and local government agencies will no longer have to pay fees to use this verification system. This change is intended to encourage more agencies to use the official database and save taxpayer money at the local level.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.