Trump excludes undocumented immigrants from social security benefits

Donald Trump signed a memorandum aimed at preventing illegal immigrants and other individuals from accessing Social Security benefits. Among other things, the document seeks to ensure that payments to deceased or ineligible beneficiaries are stopped.

The memo is tied to an executive order Trump signed in February to ensure that taxpayer resources are not used to incentivize or support illegal immigration, in this case, through Social Security.

"The surge in illegal immigration caused by the previous Administration is siphoning dollars and essential services from American citizens while state and local budgets grow increasingly strained," the White House noted.

"The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) calculated that American taxpayers spend at least $182 billion annually to cover the costs incurred by the presence of 20 million illegal aliens and their children, which includes $66.4 billion in Federal expenses plus an additional $115.6 billion in state and local expenses," they added.

In fact, FAIR estimated that almost one million illegal immigrants have stolen IDs or fraudulent Social Security numbers. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) noted that the Biden administration's border crisis would have cost taxpayers "more than $16.2 billion."

"Although some illegal aliens do pay taxes, those tax contributions come nowhere near covering the costs they impose on the populace; FAIR estimates illegal aliens are still a $150.7 billion net fiscal burden," the White House added.

Finally, the memorandum signed by the president also expands the Social Security Administration's (SSA) fraud prosecution program to at least 50 U.S. Attorney's Offices while establishing a program specifically designed to prosecute Medicare and Medicaid fraud.