Why were 6.3K migrants moved to Social Security’s 'death' list?

(NewsNation) — More than 6,300 migrants who are authorized to enactment successful the United States person been moved to a Social Security Administration database of radical who person died aft officials deemed them to airs information threats oregon arsenic wanted by national instrumentality enforcement agencies.

A White House authoritative confirmed to NewsNation that the immigrants who were transferred to the SSA’s Ineligible Master File (previously known arsenic the Death Master File) were recovered by the Department of Homeland Security to beryllium connected the violent ticker database oregon to person FBI transgression records. All of those moved to the database entered the United States illegally during the Biden administration, the authoritative stated.

As of April 8, those connected the database mislaid their impermanent parole from Customs and Border Protection, making them ineligible to get enactment authorization oregon person benefits specified arsenic unemployment payments, assemblage loans oregon Medicaid, the authoritative said.

“President Trump promised wide deportations and by removing the monetary inducement for amerciable aliens to travel and stay, we volition promote them to self-deport,” White House spokesperson Elizabeth Huston said successful a connection provided to NewsNation. “He is delivering connected his committedness helium made to the American people.”

Others, however, person raised concerns astir adding surviving radical to a database supposedly reserved for those who’ve died. The New York Times, citing 2 radical with cognition of the process of adding the migrants to the list, which includes children, said that they volition beryllium fixed expected dates of death. In summation to losing the quality to enactment oregon cod national benefits, the deficiency of a Social Security fig makes different fiscal matters difficult, the study said.

“It’s tantamount to fiscal murder,” Martin O’Malley, who served arsenic the commissioner of the SSA during the Biden administration, told the newspaper.

What is the Social Security Ineligibility Master List?

The Ineligibility Master List is an SSA information database that includes much than 94 cardinal records dating backmost to 1936. It was created from SSA records of radical who person died and who were issued Social Security numbers.

The New York Times reviewed documents that included the names of the 6,300 migrants who were moved to the database astatine the urging of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Once connected the Ineligibility Master List, a person’s Social Security fig oregon Tax Identification Number is revoked, barring them from collecting definite benefits.

In an email to SSA unit obtained by the paper from acting manager Leland Dudek, the bureau person wrote that the fiscal lives of those migrants added to the database “would beryllium terminated.”

A White House authoritative stated that of those added to the list, 905 of them were collecting Medicaid benefits totaling $276,000, including 4 radical who were connected the violent ticker list. Another 41 of the migrants who antecedently were issued taxation ID numbers had received $42,000 successful unemployment security benefits, portion 22 had national pupil loans totaling $289,000.

The determination comes soon aft several IRS officials resigned aft the bureau said it would assistance national agents successful locating immigrants successful the U.S. illegally. The IRS antecedently agreed to springiness Immigration and Customs Enforcement access to migrant taxation information.

Does stripping migrants of Social Security numbers thrust deportations?

Some experts pass the transportation of surviving persons to the SSA “death” database violates privateness laws, The Washington Post reported. In March, the SSA posted that “instances erstwhile a idiosyncratic is erroneously reported arsenic deceased to Social Security tin beryllium devastating to the individual, spouse and babelike children.”

Those mobile app users made appointments to question asylum and get enactment authorizations. However, the Trump medication disabled the CBP One app and replaced it with the CBP Home app, which includes functionality that assists migrants with self-deporting themselves.

DHS antecedently revoked parole for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, who had besides sought parole done the CBP One app, truthful agelong arsenic they could besides unafraid a U.S.-based fiscal sponsor. The much than 500,000 radical affected volition suffer their presumption April 24.

Elon Musk’s erstwhile claims astir migrants and Social Security

Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is presently heading up the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, precocious claimed astatine a Wisconsin rally that more than 2 cardinal immigrants who entered the United States illegally were fixed Social Security numbers during fiscal twelvemonth 2024 alone, giving them improper entree to benefits.

That fig was a crisp summation from the 590,000 noncitizens who received Social Security numbers successful fiscal twelvemonth 2022 and the 964,000 who received them successful 2023, national information showed.

The SSA reports that, successful general, lone noncitizens who are authorized by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to enactment successful the state are eligible to person Social Security numbers.

Musk antecedently claimed that helium had uncovered “the biggest fraud successful history” erstwhile helium said helium recovered millions of radical who were implicit 100 years of property listed successful the Social Security database.

However, NewsNation antecedently reported that portion Dudek acknowledged that determination are radical who person Social Security numbers who bash not person a day of decease linked to their record, those radical are “not needfully receiving benefits.

A 2024 study by the Social Security inspector general showed that betwixt 2015 and 2022, little than 1% of the $8.6 trillion paid retired successful benefits was distributed improperly. Most of those funds were overpayments made to surviving people.

“What Musk has tweeted is not chiefly an illustration of fraud but much similar the messy databases kept by Social Security,” said Alex Nowrasteh, the vice president for economical and societal argumentation studies astatine the libertarian Cato Institute.