Fact check: How many Social Security numbers were assigned to noncitizens each year from 2019 to 2023?

1. What the key sources claim — a steep climb and a record year

The two primary contemporary narratives in the supplied analyses describe a rapid escalation of SSNs issued to noncitizens beginning in 2021 and exploding by 2024. One account reports ~270,000 SSNs in 2021, >590,000 in 2022, ~964,000 in 2023, and >2 million in 2024, describing 2024 as the highest annual total in U.S. history ^[1]. Independent summaries and public remarks echo a similar trend, citing ~590,000 in FY2022, 964,000 in FY2023, and roughly 2.1 million in FY2024, and frame 2023–2024 as the period of the largest year-over-year increases ^{[2] [1]}. These sources consistently identify 2023 as the pivot year and 2024 as the peak ^[1].

2. Official audit detail and program mechanics — what SSA reports show

An SSA Office of Inspector General audit supplies a complementary, granular view for 2021: SSA assigned approximately 587,000 SSNs to noncitizens via the Enumeration at Entry (EAE) and Enumeration Beyond Entry (EBE) programs in Calendar Year 2021, with improper multiple assignments limited to 1,185 cases (under 1% of that total) ^[3]. Another SSA-oriented document places the total number of original SSNs issued in 2021 at about 4.9 million, with 588,000 attributable to EAE/EBE participants, reinforcing that noncitizen SSN issuance comprised a material share of new SSNs in 2021 ^[3]. The audit underscores both scale and generally accurate processing while documenting a small error rate ^[3].

3. Gaps and inconsistencies — what the supplied materials do not resolve

The supplied analyses show clear figures for 2021–2024 but do not supply explicit, standalone counts for 2019 and 2020 within the excerpts, leaving the full 2019–2023 series only partially observable. One compilation claims to provide a 1975–2025 breakdown including 2019–2023, implying precise annual counts exist, but the excerpted analyses do not reproduce the 2019–2020 numbers for independent verification here ^[1]. Additionally, public statements summarizing FY totals (e.g., 2.1 million in FY2024) align with media reporting yet may package calendar-year and fiscal-year figures differently; differences in reporting periods (calendar vs. fiscal) and program scopes (EAE/EBE vs. all assignment channels) can produce apparent discrepancies ^{[2] [1]}.

4. Cross-checking viewpoints — convergence and possible agendas

Independent sources and SSA materials converge on the trajectory: a moderate count in 2021, larger counts in 2022–2023, and a historic peak in 2024. Public figures and commentary citing the 2 million-plus 2024 number reflect the same underlying SSA EBE/EAE data trends ^{[1] [2]}. Some summaries emphasize the scale as a policy or political issue; these framings can reflect agendas focused on immigration enforcement or administrative capacity. The raw SSA audit and program reports, by contrast, emphasize processing totals and error rates rather than political interpretation, indicating the data itself supports the numeric trend while interpretation varies by commentator ^[3].

5. Bottom line and where to find the exact 2019–2020 counts

Based on the provided analyses, the most defensible year-by-year figures start in 2021: ~270k ^[4], >590k ^[5], ~964k ^[6], and >2M ^[7], with 2019–2020 not reproduced in the supplied excerpts and therefore not confirmable here ^[1]. For precise verification of 2019 and 2020 annual SSN assignments to noncitizens, consult the SSA Enumeration program datasets and the SSA Annual Statistical Supplement or EBE/EAE program tables referenced in the supplied materials, where the complete historical breakdown is published ^{[1] [8]}. The SSA audit confirms processing accuracy for 2021 and supports the reliability of the broader trend ^[3].