A closer look at how many noncitizens received Social Security numbers under the Biden administration and why it matters.
The story starts with a clear claim from Democrats that undocumented immigrants do not have Social Security numbers and cannot get stimulus checks. That claim was made directly when Sen. Dick Durbin told Sen. Ted Cruz, “Undocumented immigrants do not have social security numbers, and they do not qualify for stimulus relief checks, period.” That statement set expectations about who could access the financial and administrative systems tied to Social Security numbers.
Social Security numbers are more than an ID they are the key to jobs, bank accounts, loans, and benefits in our system. If noncitizens are routinely getting these numbers, it changes the practical effect of immigration and eligibility rules. That reality matters for everything from labor markets to benefit integrity and for the trust voters place in public statements from elected officials.
Contrary to the claims, data show millions of noncitizens received Social Security numbers during the Biden years, and that trend accelerated year over year in the administration’s early terms. The numbers reported for FY 2024 topped 2 million newly issued Social Security numbers to noncitizens.
Put simply: a claim that “they do not have social security numbers” looks wrong against these figures, and that disconnect needs explaining. Critics on the right flagged this as a policy and transparency failure, arguing that the public was misled about who was being enrolled in systems tied to citizenship and work authorization. That pushback brought attention from high-profile voices who highlighted the scale and trajectory of the issuances.
Elon Musk shared a chart during a get-out-the-vote rally in Wisconsin over the weekend, which he claimed showed millions of noncitizens received Social Security numbers during former President Joe Biden’s tenure.
The event came just a day-and-a-half before polls opened in a contentious state judicial race.
The Sunday town hall garnered a lot of attention Monday over Musk’s move to hand out $1 million checks to two Wisconsin voters who signed a petition calling for an end to “activist judges,” after the state’s Supreme Court declined to take up a challenge arguing the sweepstakes was unlawful.
After handing out the money, Musk brought friend and DOGE colleague Antonio Gracias on stage to discuss the work he has done with the federal government’s Social Security system. Shortly after Gracias joined Musk, a large graphic that read, “New Non-Citizen Social Security Numbers Issued,” was illuminated on the screen behind them.
…
Gracias was referring to the total number of noncitizens who received Social Security numbers between FY 2021 and FY 2025. The chart showed a steady year-over-year increase under Biden, reaching more than 2 million in FY 2024, which ended on Sept. 30.
FY23 saw roughly 1 million noncitizens issued Social Security numbers, as did FY25, which began in October and will end in September of this year.
Those trends raise straightforward questions about policy and oversight that taxpayers deserve answered, and they suggest a major administrative shift in how Social Security numbers were issued. Observers in conservative circles expect those issuance rates to change with policy or enforcement shifts, and many are already speculating about FY26. We’ll be very curious to see what FY26 numbers will show. We’re betting there will be a significant decline.
The raw totals are sobering to many who follow immigration and benefits policy; to critics they signal a system out of alignment with public assurances. Far too many.
Examples from routine Social Security Administration actions show the agency has the technical ability to reverse payments and correct records, which means enforcement choices are political. When this writer’s father died in April 2020, the Social Security Administration wrongly pulled back his March 2020 Social Security payment and later returned it, which underscored the agency’s capacity for administrative corrections. That kind of episode reinforces the point that issuance and reversal of benefits or numbers are not technical impossibilities; they are policy decisions.
The disparity between public assurances and the issuance data has left many conservatives bluntly concluding Democrats lied about the scale of access to Social Security numbers. Democrats lied.
There is a clear political dimension to the debate: critics argue that some Democratic officials oppose stricter enforcement because a larger pool of noncitizen residents benefits their electoral coalition. Democrats aren’t opposing ICE and deportations just because they like illegals and hate President Trump. They’re doing it because they need those votes.
Some responses from the left shrug and suggest higher taxes on Americans will compensate for any strain, which is simplistic and tone-deaf to voters who see the problem as broken policy and accountability. If we just tax American workers more, that’ll fix the problem. Not.
Pointing this out triggers a rapid dismissal from partisans who label critics as racists rather than engage the policy concerns on the numbers themselves. If you notice this and complain about it, you’re racist. That’s the Democratic Party line.
