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Thanks to former President Joe Biden's wide-open border policy, there are now millions of illegal aliens who have legitimate U.S. Social Security numbers and cards. This is a result of Biden handing out work authorizations to illegal aliens, which qualified them for Social Security numbers.
Thanks to the work of Elon Musk and DOGE, we now know that Social Security numbers were being handed out to illegal aliens throughout the Biden administration, starting at around 270,000 issued in 2021 but rising to over 2,000,000 in 2024.
This creates a lasting problem for Americans because, as former Immigration Judge Art Arthur points out, while a work authorization can be revoked, a Social Security number cannot. He said, "They can go to a future employer, present a driver's license, and show their Social Security card, and the employer is going to have to accept those documents."
Arthur pointed out that in many states, illegal aliens can get driver's licenses, meaning if any illegal aliens manage to escape deportation or re-enter the country illegally at a later date, they'd be able to almost immediately resume working. He added that by law, employers can't ask for additional documents if a person presents a valid driver's license and Social Security card.
So, how do we make sure that illegal aliens who were given Social Security cards don't take jobs that should be going to American citizens and legal residents? According to Arthur, there are two main ways. He says those solutions are either "removing those individuals from the United States, or even better, imposing a national E-Verify requirement."
E-Verify is an online tool that U.S. employers use to double-check if their workers are legally allowed to hold jobs in the U.S. It’s a team effort between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA). It takes the info from a worker’s Form I-9—the employment eligibility form—and runs it through government databases to confirm their identity and work status.
Arthur points out that without implementing these measures to keep illegal aliens from working in the United States, they could wind up drawing on taxpayer benefits. He said, "Any alien who's been given one of these numbers, who works in this country for ten years, is going to be able to draw on Social Security benefits and draw on Medicaid."
He also says that these legitimate Social Security cards and numbers have become somewhat of a commodity among illegal aliens, and they often buy and trade them. That means one illegal alien could give their Social Security number to another, and then ten years later draw Social Security benefits without ever paying into the system.