Immigrants and the Social Security death master file

Adding immigrants to the Social Security death master file undermines both the integrity and the solvency of the Social Security system.

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.

Though undocumented immigrants typically do not have a valid SSN, immigrants without permanent legal status are sometimes eligible to obtain one. For example, asylum seekers with a pending asylum case and those in the U.S. on temporary humanitarian parole programs can apply for SSNs and work authorization. Similarly, immigrants on a temporary work visa and international students can qualify in some circumstances.  Workers without permanent residence contribute into the program, but since many do not end up working long enough to qualify for benefits, these contributions improve solvency for current and future retirees. If an immigrant with a valid SSN loses work authorization and then is later able to readjust their status, they typically maintain the SSN and sometimes use their tax contributions as evidence of their good character.

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. Though details about the affected individuals are scant, they are described as mostly Latino immigrants whose legal right to stay in the country has been revoked due to criminal activity or has expired. News reports imply that the administration is considering expanding the list for broad-based immigration enforcement. A senior SSA executive who argued that the use of the file in this way was illegal lost his job.

More than losing their right to be in the U.S., landing on the death master file thrusts individuals into a different kind of legal and financial purgatory—one that is difficult to reverse and not immune to mistakes. Indeed, the stated goal is to disrupt the lives of people so much that they “self-deport” without the administration having to go through a court process and other logistics of deportation. But many of the affected individuals are unlikely to leave the U.S. due to economic hardship, dangerous conditions, or open persecution in their home countries, or because their loved ones are in the United States. Instead, they may stay in the U.S. and work in the underground economy where they will not pay into the Social Security system.

The administration’s actions are ironic because undocumented immigrants provide a substantial boost to Social Security’s finances, contributing substantially more in payroll taxes than they receive in benefits. They are estimated to have contributed $25 billion to Social Security coffers in 2022. And, unless they later adjust their status, they are unlikely to benefit from the program in old age.

More generally, immigration is vitally important to the financial health of the Social Security program. Immigrants tend to arrive in the United States when young and contribute to the program for many years. Our recent centrist proposal to reform Social Security shows that expanding immigration would improve the solvency of the Social Security program, closing almost 10% of the funding gap and generating $117 billion in savings over the first ten years alone. In contrast, policies that would reduce net immigration would worsen Social Security’s finances. The 2024 Social Security Trustees Report shows that the long run trust fund balance would be 25% lower in a low-immigration scenario compared to a high-immigration scenario.

Given the break-it-now-fix-it-later approach of the last few months, it is almost certain that some legal permanent residents and U.S. citizens will be erroneously added to the death master file as part of this effort. Those ending up on the death file can face serious consequences like frozen bank accounts, declined credit cards, and termination of Social Security and Medicare benefits. As multiple agencies newly get roped into immigration enforcement duties, their core missions to serve the American people are compromised.