“Principles of sound administration demand that taxpayer-funded benefits be provided only to eligible persons and not encourage or reward illegal immigration to the United States,” stated an April 15, 2025, Presidential Memoranda entitled Preventing Illegal Aliens from Obtaining Social Security Act Benefits.

The Memoranda was directed to six key officials: the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Commissioner of Social Security, the Inspector General of the Social Security Administration, and was to be completed in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, as necessary.

Furthermore, the Memoranda gave authority to the above agencies to prioritizing civil or administrative enforcement actions “against States, localities, or other similar grantees or subgrantees that do not take adequate measures to verify eligibility, stop payments to deceased or otherwise ineligible payees, or otherwise prevent ineligible aliens from receiving funds from Social Security Act programs.”

Basically, the Trump administration is targeting Democrat-led states, such as California and New York, and their municipalities that have high numbers of immigrants. 

Politically motivated, much?

Almost certainly.

The document then proceeded to give the directive to expand the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) full-time fraud prosecutor program to at least 50 United States Attorney Offices by October 1, 2025, with special emphasis on ”prioritizing new detailees in the 10 United States Attorney Offices whose jurisdictions encompass the largest known populations of illegal aliens, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.”

What is most striking about this Memoranda is that it fails to mention, even once, that many undocumented migrants currently pay Federal Income tax – which directly flows into the government’s coffers to pay for those ‘taxpayer-funded benefits’ – yet those same ‘taxpayers’ don’t get the benefits.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) even requires it.

As clearly stated on the IRS’ website under the ‘Illegal aliens (undocumented aliens)’ section.

It website states, “Illegal aliens (undocumented aliens) who are resident aliens and who receive income … are subject to the same reporting and withholding obligations which apply to U.S. citizens who receive the same kind of income.”

Fascinating.

Subject to the same obligations as U.S. citizens…but not entitled to the same benefits?

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, in its reportTax Payments by Undocumented Immigrants, found that in 2022, undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes. The vast majority – $59.4 billion was paid to the Federal Government.

Furthermore, the study found “more than a third of the tax dollars paid by undocumented immigrants go toward payroll taxes dedicated to funding programs that these workers are barred from accessing. Undocumented immigrants paid $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes, $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes, and $1.8 billion in unemployment insurance taxes in 2022.”

So, it begs the question: Are undocumented immigrants withdrawing $25.7 billion in Social Security benefits?

As is the style of this Administration, the Memoranda gave no mention of what the actual amount of the fraud that is claimed to be occurring is, nor whether undocumented migrants were actually the ones committing any or all of the fraud that may be happening.

Given the role of the Department of Homeland Security in this directive and recent actions of the Administration, one is safe to assume that the likely outcome is that any undocumented immigrants identified would be put on the path to deportation.

These are individuals who are working, paying taxes, and supporting American society – why not figure out a path to status that keeps these taxpayers in the country?

America can use the tax revenue.

One has to wonder how it is Sound Administration to dismiss $59.4 billion in Federal revenue.