Miami, United States. – Donald Trump’s administration has taken a new step in its immigration strategy by ordering the cancellation of social security numbers of thousands of migrants, many of whom obtained this document legally under the mandate of Joe Biden. The measure, which seeks to hinder the access of these people to financial services and public benefits, implies including their names in the Social Security archive, as if they had died.
According to documents reviewed by The New York Timesmore than 6,300 migrants were added this week to the “Death Master Archive” of Social Security Administration (SSA). This database is normally used to avoid undue payments to deceased people, but now it has been reused as a pressure tool. “Their financial lives would end,” wrote Leland Dudek, commissioner in the functions of the SSA, in an email to the staff that was obtained by The New York Times.
The explicit objective of this action, according to the White House, is to promote the “self -portion” of migrants. Elizabeth Huston, government spokesman, declared: “President Trump promised mass deportations, and by eliminating monetary incentive so that illegal foreigners come and stay, we will encourage them to self -lead.”
This policy initially applies to people classified as “alleged terrorists” or with a criminal record, but federal officials have admitted that it could extend to other migrants without legal authorization in the country. Social Security cancellation would limit access to bank accounts, credit cards, student loans and benefits such as Medicaid or unemployment insurance.
The use of the death file as an exclusion mechanism has generated concern among former officials and experts. Jason Fichtner, who occupied high positions in the SSA under George W. Bush, warned: “The application of immigration laws is not the competence of Social Security administration. The potential for errors can have many consequences.”
Martin O’Malley, ex -commissioner of the SSA during Biden’s mandate, described the “inhuman” measure and described it as “a financial murder.” Previous cases in which living people were erroneously included in this list resulted in mortgage executions and closing of bank accounts. The rectification process, known as “resurrection”, can take months or even years.
The strategy has been promoted by the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), an entity with a strong influence of Elon Musk, who has promoted infused conspiracy theories on migratory fraud and the improper use of Social Security. Musk, Trump’s nearby advisor, has defended that Democrats use this agency to “alter the demography of the country”, a statement without evidence.
In parallel, the SSA shared with the Customs Immigration and Control Service (ICE) the latest known addresses of some 98,000 people, according to another agreement revealed by the Times. Twelve current and retired officials said that this collaboration represents a break with the agency’s historical confidentiality policy.
The death archive, now renamed as “Inelegable Master Archive”, continues to assign false death dates to living people, which could violate federal laws of privacy and taxation. Kathleen Romig, policy director at the Center for Budget and Political Priorities, warned: “The Social Security Administration has the legal obligation to maintain precise data (…) and there are strict laws that regulate the use and exchange of that data.”
Affected migrants legally entered during the Biden government, through programs such as Humanitarian permit (parole) and The CBP One application. More than 1.4 million people, mostly from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela, were benefited. However, the current administration plans to put an end to these programs, revoking their legal status and, with it, their access to employment and other basic services.
Last Tuesday, Aram Moghaddassi, engineer from software From Doge, he sent Dudek the first list of people to include in the deceased database. The list included a child under 13 and at least seven other children, which unleashed internal alarm due to the generalized nature of the measure. According to the White House, almost 1,000 of these migrants would have received about $ 600,000 in benefits before the revocation.
Experts warn that the coordinated use of government databases to pursue migrants could normalize cross surveillance between agencies and sit a dangerous precedent. Andrew Biggs, former SSA official, said the measure could facilitate the execution of Trump policies. “If you are in favor of the application of immigration laws, this makes sense,” he said.
Finally, Doge leads efforts to integrate personal information from multiple federal agencies. According to the documents, the February agreement between the SSA and ICE allows the crossing of social security numbers with migration databases to track individuals. Dudek authorized this cooperation and facilitated access to Doge engineers.
Although the complete legal effects of these practices are still unknown, the documents reviewed by the Times They reveal an unprecedented expansion of the state apparatus for migratory purposes, reconfiguring traditional functions of civil agencies such as Social Security to comply with the massive deportation agenda of the current president.
Meanwhile, thousands of people face financial exclusion without having been formally notified, and with few ways to appeal or reverse the decision. The measure, unpublished in scope and method, has already raised strong reactions both inside and outside the government.
