Immigrants and the Social Security death master file – Jack Smalligan & Tara Watson/Brookings

“The Trump administration is beginning to use the Social Security Administration (SSA) to enforce immigration rules in ways that are dangerous for both the Social Security program and workers contributing to the program. Specifically, press reports indicate that the Trump administration is deliberately adding immigrants who have legally obtained a Social Security number (SSN) to the ‘death master file,’ the official database used to ensure that deceased individuals are no longer sent Social Security benefits. Adding immigrants to the Social Security death master file undermines both the integrity and the solvency of the Social Security system…

“Recent reports indicate that the administration took the unprecedented step of deliberately adding about 6,000 people to the death master file, even though they are known to be alive.”

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Easter weekend – when Christians celebrate the execution of Jesus and his resurrection to eternal life – is a fitting time for the federal government to reflect on how American citizens are impacted when one federal agency declares them to be dead while another claims they are still alive. One example: Do people whom the Trump Administration places on Social Security’s death master file still have to pay taxes to the IRS? Would such souls be eligible for Medicare hospice benefits? For longer than three days? What about Medicaid? Food stamps? DOGE might find that dead people don’t need health care and food. Can people the government slanders or injures by being declared dead sue for damages?  Will prisons in El Salvador under contract with the US government make sure dead people from the US can send mail to the IRS and other agencies to fulfill civic obligations?

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