The policy aligns with other high-profile anti-immigration measures taken by Donald Trump’s White House since his second term began, including sending more than 200 suspected gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador
The Trump administration has added over 6,000 immigrants to a database of dead Social Security recipients, effectively cutting off benefits and their ability to work, US media reported. Adding the immigrants to the so-called “death file” is “aimed at putting pressure on the undocumented immigrants to leave the country,” the Washington Post said, citing a White House official.
The policy aligns with other high-profile anti-immigration measures taken by Donald Trump’s White House since his second term began, including sending more than 200 suspected gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Social Security Numbers (SSNs) are a key identifier for people in the United States, used to report earnings, establish eligibility for welfare benefits and other purposes.
Hundreds of thousands of people who are in the country illegally nevertheless have a US Social Security Number. Many arrived during the Biden administration, which allowed certain people to enter temporarily as a way of reducing illegal border crossings.
The White House official told the Washington Post that once people are listed as dead in the Social Security system, they will be shut out by many employers, landlords and banks as well as federal agencies – essentially ending their ability to earn a living in the country.
Media reported that the move to use the “death file” was spearheaded by staff from Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Citing administration documents, the New York Times reported that the initial group of 6,300 people was made up of “convicted criminals and ‘suspected terrorists.’”
But both papers reported that the measure could soon be applied to many more undocumented migrants. Weaponizing the Social Security system against undocumented migrants follows steps taken to share taxpayer information from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with immigration authorities announced on Tuesday.
Millions of undocumented migrants have long paid taxes as a way of boosting both their immigration cases and the financial health of massive US federal programs such as Social Security.
118 foreign students’ legal statuses revoked
At least 118 foreign students’ legal statuses have been revoked across the universities in the US state of Texas as of Thursday, according to local media reports. These students were informed recently that their visas were revoked or their immigration status was marked as terminated in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, known as the SEVIS federal database, reports Xinhua news agency, citing The Texas Tribune.
At least 27 students in the University of North Texas and another 27 in the University of Texas (UT) at Arlington were removed from SEVIS, said the report, citing university officials. As many as 10 UT-El Paso students had their visas revoked, said a report from local media outlet KFOX14. Affected universities also include UT-Dallas, Texas A&M, UT-Rio Grande, Texas Women’s University and Texas Tech, according to the report.
Phillip Rodriguez, an immigration lawyer, told The Texas Tribune that students who are removed from SEVIS can choose to leave or apply to reinstate their status. However, choosing to remove students from SEVIS rather than revoking visas creates a more difficult appeal process, he said.
“I think they’re proactively making it so that they basically can’t continue studies or making it extremely difficult to continue their studies here in the United States without some sort of intervention,” said another immigration lawyer, Robert Hoffman. SEVIS removal also can affect employment eligibility and the status of dependents like spouses and children, whose ability to stay in the United States depends on the primary status holder, he added.
Since Trump took office in January, hundreds of international students at dozens of US universities have been removed from SEVIS, with many of them reportedly involved in the pro-Palestinian campus protests last year and some reportedly for minor infractions like traffic violations, according to US media reports. The US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Wednesday that it would begin screening international students’ social media for “antisemitic” content.
