Immigrants Deemed Dead Show Up at SSA Offices

The Social Security Administration has taken the unprecedented step of classifying more than 6,000 immigrants as dead to pressure them to self-deport. Now, some of those very-much-alive people are showing up at SSA offices with driver's licenses, work permits, and other paperwork in hand proving their existence, forcing the agency to reinstate them, reports the Washington Post. More than 30 people have been taken off the SSA's "Death Master File" over the past week or so, according to records seen by the Post.

The initial Department of Homeland Security move, encouraged by the Trump administration and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, saw instant pushback, including by SSA officials who said it violated privacy laws and falsified government records. The White House had said that the thousands of immigrants it placed into the death file, including children, had engaged in criminal activity or had terrorist ties, though it hasn't provided evidence for that.

The AP notes the difficulties that can arise once Social Security numbers are eliminated: "You cannot legally get a job, collect Social Security benefits, or receive certain government benefits. Some school districts may prevent children from enrolling in school without a Social Security number. And while some banks allow people to open an account without a Social Security number, stripping immigrants of their Social Security numbers will cut them off from many other financial services."

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Immigrant advocates have called the purposeful move "digital murder," adding that those with Social Security numbers were in the United States legally. "The police state is here, now," former SSA Administrator Martin O'Malley says. Devin O'Connor, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, adds, "The administration is saying they have the right to declare someone as dead when they have not died—where is the oversight here?" Here's how being erroneously considered dead by the SSA has affected two apparent US citizens. (More Social Security Administration stories.)