President Donald Trump celebrated the 90th birthday of Social Security last week by touting recent efforts to clean up the department’s rolls, including removing 275,000 illegal immigrants from the retirement and disability program.
“To protect our benefits, we’ve already kicked nearly 275,000 illegal aliens off of the Social Security system,” Trump said in the Oval Office with Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano looking on.
Fox News shared a Facebook reel with Trump making the claims, saying “What that’s doing is making the system strong. Biden never kicked anybody off; everybody joined.”
After investigations by the Department of Government Efficiency, the Trump administration has alleged widespread social security fraud and abuse, particularly among illegal immigrants and people too old to still be alive.
“And we’re carrying out historic deportations to remove many more illegals committing Social Security fraud,” Trump said as reported by The Washington Times. “It’s a Social Security fraud that was taking place at levels that nobody’s ever seen. We cleared 12.4 million names listed in the Social Security database over 120 years of age. Think of that.”
Trump appeared to read off a prepared list of agency accomplishments to mark the 90th anniversary of then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act into law.
“Almost 60 million American seniors rely on Social Security for peace of mind and a life of dignity and retirement,” Trump said Thursday in the Oval Office. “These Americans paid into the system, and they deserve leaders in Washington who are going to protect the benefits they’ve had and protect Social Security.”
Trump noted that Social Security has focused on purging phony and fraudulent claims. He said SSA has removed from its rolls nearly 12.4 million names of people who, if alive today, would be over 120 years of age.
“We’re breaking records, because I’ve never heard of anybody at 125,” Trump said of fraud in the system per WSAW 7 News. “There were nearly 135,000 people listed who were over 160 years old, and in some cases getting payments. So, somebody is getting those payments, and we’re after that.”
Illegal immigrants can pay into Social Security or receive benefits through various fraudulent means, including identity theft. It was not immediately clear whether all 275,000 were actually receiving money as opposed to paying into the system via the use of a stolen Social Security number to gain employment.
“These are people, many of them have already left the country, and yet we were sending them checks all the time,” Trump said.
In February, the former head of the Social Security Administration resigned after a dispute with DOGE and the Elon Musk-led group’s efforts to access sensitive government records.
Michelle King, a career federal worker who had been with SSA since 1994, quit over the DOGE disagreement and was replaced by Leland Dudek, The Washington Post reported.
Trump brought on Bisignano, the former COO of JP Morgan Chase and ex-CEO of financial technology giant Fiserv, to help overhaul the agency. Bisignano, who was officially sworn in as SSA Commissioner in May, did not comment on the president’s claim.
“We are serving more people and delivering more than was ever delivered before in a manner with the highest possible quality, and we’ve just begun,” Bisignano said while standing next to Trump in the Oval Office.
The Social Security Administration confirmed in a statement to the New York Post that it “updated the Social Security records of about 275,000 individuals no longer holding legal status,” without offering details.
Trump highlighted various changes to the social safety net, including the fact that seniors will now receive a $6,000 tax deduction via his recently enacted “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
The new deduction means that 88% of seniors will no longer pay taxes on their benefits, according to the White House, fulfilling one of Trump’s key campaign pledges, per The Post report.
In addition, despite reports that the SSA is closing some offices, wait times at field offices have dropped 23% while five times as many people have scheduled appointments compared with last year, The Washington Times reported.
The agency has handled 70% more calls than last year, lowered the average speed of answers by 80% and reduced disability backlogs by 26%, according to the White House.
“By massively improving the customer service experience through technological improvements, preventing illegal aliens from accessing benefits, and delivering no taxes on Social Security through the One Big Beautiful Bill — President Trump has Made Social Security Great Again,” White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said in a statement to The Washington Times.
In a CBS News report from April, Musk and Antonio Gracias, a longtime friend and DOGE employee at the Social Security Administration, showed a chart that claimed over 5 million non-citizens were issued Social Security numbers between 2021 and 2025.
Musk called it a “massive financial incentive” for people to come to the U.S. illegally and claimed it was a large-scale Democratic “program” intended “to import as many illegals as possible,” per the CBS report.
Gracias claimed the number of immigrants with Social Security numbers was “totally uncontrolled” and blamed former President Joe Biden’s immigration laws.
The Social Security Administration’s policy generally requires non-citizens to be lawfully present and, as of 2004, to have work authorization for their earnings to count towards eligibility and benefits. Undocumented immigrants cannot obtain a Social Security number and are not eligible to collect Social Security benefits.
Some individuals with certain legal statuses, such as refugees, asylees, and those with temporary protected status, may be eligible for benefits under specific conditions and time limits.
Immigration advocates say illegal immigrants without work authorization actually help fund the Social Security program. Analysts estimate undocumented immigrants account for an additional $20 billion annually in payments into Social Security that they will never withdraw, CBS reported.
