More than 6,000 Social Security numbers for illegal immigrants the administration claims have a criminal record or ties to terrorism have been moved to the “death master file,” according to a report from the New York Times. The massive file holds the Social Security numbers of dead people to avoid giving out their benefits and block their information from being used fraudulently.
IRS TO GIVE ICE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS’ TAX INFORMATION TO AID DEPORTATION EFFORT
The move reportedly is to encourage illegal immigrants to self-deport and would effectively bar them from collecting benefits, including Medicare, Medicaid, or unemployment insurance, among other privileges of having a Social Security number. Putting illegal immigrants on the “death master list” would also likely cut off access to bank accounts and credit cards.
The Department of Homeland Security, under the Trump administration, has attempted to facilitate easier self-deporting by changing the CBP One app to the CBP Home app, which illegal immigrants can use to notify the government of their self-deportation plans.
The report also suggested the Social Security Administration would provide the last known addresses of 98,000 people to Immigration and Customs Enforcement via an agreement reached between the agencies in February.
The unprecedented move by the SSA comes days after a court filing revealed that the Internal Revenue Service reached an agreement with the DHS to provide tax information, including earnings and addresses, among other information, about people ICE is investigating.
The Trump administration’s approach to combating illegal immigration has involved several unorthodox ways to get information. President Donald Trump is eyeing a plan to withhold federal funding from “sanctuary cities,” vowing not to cooperate with federal authorities on immigration enforcement.
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Since Trump returned to office in January, his administration has touted high deportation figures. The most recent data released by DHS in March showed more than 32,000 illegal immigrants were deported in Trump’s first 50 days in office, while illegal border crossings in February dropped to the lowest on record.
Democrats have expressed outrage over the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, specifically at the tactics used to seek the removal of illegal immigrants.
