Social Security Says It Commits to Preventing Illegal Immigrants From Receiving Benefits

The White House recently announced that 6,300 illegal immigrants with criminal records or who posed other serious risks were receiving benefits.

A Social Security card sits alongside checks from the U.S. Treasury in Washington on Oct. 14, 2021. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The Social Security Administration (SSA) expressed its “full support” for a recent memorandum issued by President Donald Trump that requires the agency to take a series of measures to block illegal immigrants from obtaining government benefits, according to an April 16 statement.

“This memorandum reinforces SSA’s commitment to safeguarding taxpayer dollars and ensuring the integrity of the programs it administers,” the agency said.

The memo requires SSA to expand its fraud prosecutor program to at least 50 U.S. Attorney Offices.

SSA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is tasked with investigating allegations of fraud related to Social Security. To prosecute federal crimes, OIG partners with U.S. attorneys within the Department of Justice as well as other local and state prosecuting authorities.

In addition to expanding the fraud prosecutor program, the memo directs the SSA to set up a Medicaid fraud-prosecution program in 15 U.S. Attorney Offices.

SSA has been asked to consider reinstating the use of civil monetary penalties against individuals found to be part of social security fraud, which the memorandum says is “an effort that has been paused for several years.”

The SSA must also investigate earnings reports of people aged 100 years and above determined to have mismatched records. Last month, the agency said it was identifying and correcting beneficiary records after reports revealed millions of people above the age of 120 years were listed on government databases as eligible for Social Security.

“The Social Security Administration is dedicated to protecting the vital benefits that American workers have earned on behalf of themselves and their families,” said Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek.

“We are committed to working diligently to implement the President’s memorandum and to ensure that benefits are paid only to those who should receive them.”

The White House recently announced that over 6,300 illegal immigrants receiving Social Security and other federal benefits were stripped of these payments.

These individuals were allowed to come into the United States despite being flagged as a national security risk, having criminal records, or being listed in the FBI’s terrorist screening database, according to the White House.

They were also paroled into the country, which protected them from deportation. Immigration parole allows a person to temporarily live and potentially work in the United States.

Parole for the 6,300 individuals ended on April 8. Their Social Security numbers were reclassified by the SSA into an Ineligible Master File to ensure they can never receive another federal benefit.

‘Only for Eligible Taxpayers’

Trump’s April 15 memo is directed at the Social Security commissioner, the Social Security Administration inspector general, the attorney general, and the secretaries of labor, health and human services, and homeland security.

“These taxpayer-funded benefits should be only for eligible taxpayers,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

In February, Trump signed an executive order directing all agencies to identify federally funded programs offering financial assistance to illegal immigrants and take corrective actions to make sure that funds “will not be used to support sanctuary policies or assist illegal immigration.”

The crackdown on illegal immigration has resulted in a massive drop in border encounters.

Nationwide, the border patrol saw daily apprehensions of illegal immigrants fall to a new low of 264 per day in March.

This was fewer than the 330 apprehensions per day seen in February, which was the “lowest nationwide average apprehensions” in the history of the Customs and Border Protection at the time, the agency said.