Overview

• Approximately 6,300 migrants, primarily Latinos who entered the US legally, have been added to the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File by order of the Trump administration.
• Inclusion on the list revokes Social Security numbers, cutting off access to work, healthcare, unemployment benefits, and other essential services.
• The administration justifies the move as a strategy to encourage self-deportation by removing financial incentives for migrants to remain in the US.
• Critics, including former Social Security officials, have condemned the tactic as 'financial murder,' warning of administrative errors and severe human rights violations.
• This measure is part of a broader crackdown on immigration, following travel bans, mass residency revocations, and expanded data-sharing for deportation efforts.