Immigrants can get Social Security numbers legally. Musk says that’s ‘crazy’
Billionaire businessman and White House adviser Elon Musk and his colleague, venture capitalist Antonio Gracias, said they uncovered “crazy” information about Social Security and immigrants.
“This is a mind-blowing chart,” Musk said at a March 30 campaign event for the Wisconsin Supreme Court election, pointing to data that showed the number of noncitizens who received Social Security numbers from 2021 to 2024. The chart showed a jump from about 270,000 in fiscal year 2021 to more than 2 million in fiscal year 2024.
“This literally blew us away, like we went there to find fraud, and we found this by accident,” said Gracais, who has been working with Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Gracias thanked government workers who he said “took a risk to show us these numbers.”
Both men portrayed the data as nefarious and previously unknown.
Gracias’ remarks gave the false impression that all noncitizens who received Social Security numbers during that timeframe are in the U.S. illegally and receiving federal benefits. He said, without presenting evidence, that the 5.5 million people represented in the chart received Social Security numbers after illegally crossing the border, applying for asylum and receiving a work permit. He added that those people were receiving Social Security benefits and some were registered to vote and had voted. (Only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections.)
Musk also tied the data to his false claim that former President Joe Biden’s administration had a “large scale program to import as many illegals as possible, ultimately to change the entire voting map of the United States.” We previously rated that Pants on Fire!
But this data is neither nefarious nor secretive. It’s evidence of the Social Security system working as intended by law.
The federal government issues Social Security numbers to immigrants who are legally authorized to work in the U.S. so they can pay taxes. Having a Social Security number does not allow immigrants to register to vote in federal elections nor does it make them immediately eligible for Social Security benefits.
The chart showed the number of new noncitizens who received Social Security numbers between fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year 2025 through a legal process known as “Enumeration Beyond Entry,” or EBE.
The process started in October 2017 during Trump’s first administration. It allows the Social Security Administration to communicate with the Department of Homeland Security to quickly give eligible immigrants Social Security numbers without requiring them to visit a Social Security office. DHS transfers information from a person’s work authorization application to the Social Security office.
Gracias presented the process as lacking vetting.
“The Social Security Administration automatically sends you in the mail your social security number, no interview, no ID,” Gracias said.
But a December 2019 report from the Office of the Inspector General during Trump’s first term says the reason the Social Security Administration can quickly give out Social Security numbers is because the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has already collected and verified people’s information.
Gracais and Musk presented the sharp increase in new noncitizen Social Security numbers as shocking, but experts say it was expected.
The Biden administration created and expanded several legal immigration pathways such as humanitarian parole and Temporary Protected Status. These programs gave millions of people lawful status and work authorizations which made them eligible to receive Social Security numbers.
Additionally, immigration rose significantly under Biden. People who entered U.S. borders illegally, applied for asylum and eventually received permits to legally work in the U.S. also received Social Security numbers. That’s allowed under the law.
“You might think these programs are bad, but there is no fraud here and these people are not defrauding Social Security,” Daniel Di Martino, a fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, said in a March 31 video on X.
Generally people have to be legally authorized to work in the U.S. to receive Social Security numbers. And most people who are authorized to work in the U.S. entered the country legally or have legal status. However, Social Security cards have a different appearance based on whether an immigrant is allowed to permanently or temporarily work in the U.S.
People with lawful permanent status, or a green card, receive the same Social Security card as U.S. citizens. Those cards, which let people work without restriction, include name and Social Security number.
People with temporary work authorization receive Social Security cards that say “valid for work only with DHS authorization.” Several immigrant groups are authorized to temporarily work in the U.S., including people with student visas.
Temporary lawful statuses also allow people to legally work in the U.S. People can apply for Temporary Protected Status whether they entered the U.S. legally or illegally; Temporary Protected Status counts as a legal status.
Gracais baselessly said all 5 million people in the chart were in the U.S. illegally. People generally need a legal status to get a work permit and Social Security number. However, there are exceptions such as asylum seekers. Asylum applicants can apply for work authorization, even if they entered the U.S. illegally. However, they generally must wait six months after they have applied for asylum before they can apply for work authorization.
Having a pending asylum application is not a legal status. But immigration law allows people on U.S. soil to apply for asylum regardless of how they entered the country.
In rare cases, certain immigrants who are legally in the U.S. but don’t have work authorization can also get Social Security numbers if they have a “valid non-work reason for needing a Social Security number,” the Social Security Administration said. These cards say “not valid for employment.” People may need a Social Security number to receive certain benefits including state or local benefits or food stamps.
People who are ineligible to receive Social Security numbers, such as people illegally in the U.S. who do not have work authorizations, are issued an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number by the Internal Revenue Service so they can pay federal taxes.
A Social Security number alone doesn’t make someone eligible to receive Social Security or other benefits. To receive Social Security retirement benefits, people have to meet certain criteria such as earning a minimum of 40 Social Security “credits,” which are accumulated based on wages earned and number of years worked.
The same is true for disability benefits. However, the number of credits required for that benefit varies based on a person’s age.
Medicare eligibility for noncitizens in the U.S. legally also depends on Social Security credits.
People in the U.S. illegally are not eligible for Social Security retirement benefits. People with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers pay billions of dollars in Social Security taxes without getting any benefits.
Only U.S. citizens can vote in national elections. A social security number is not evidence of citizenship and cannot be used to register to vote.
Gracias and Musk said they took a sample of the people represented in the chart and found people registered to vote and some who voted. They did not provide evidence of how many of those people were registered to vote or voted.
There have been examples of noncitizens voting in elections, but they are sporadic and rare among the millions of votes cast in federal elections. Voting by noncitizens carries high risks that include incarceration or deportation. Fraudulent voter registration or voting by noncitizens often results from misunderstandings or errors. For example, some noncitizens accidentally register to vote when applying for driver’s licenses.
This fact check was originally published by PolitiFact, which is part of the Poynter Institute. See the sources for this fact check here.