How many unauthorized immigrants received Social Security numbers under the Biden administration according to official records?
Executive summary
Official records and reporting say noncitizens who are legally authorized to work can receive Social Security numbers; multiple outlets show a sharp rise in SSNs issued to noncitizens during the Biden years but do not agree on a clean “unauthorized immigrants received X SSNs” figure (sources emphasize legal work authorization and programs like Enumeration Beyond Entry) [1] [2] [3]. Claims that “millions of unauthorized immigrants” were issued SSNs are presented by the White House and some commentators, but fact‑checking outlets and Social Security guidance stress that SSNs are generally issued only to those with USCIS work authorization [4] [1] [3].
1. What the Social Security Administration says: SSNs tied to legal work authorization
The Social Security Administration’s publicly stated rule is clear: SSNs are issued to noncitizens only when they are authorized by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to work — a point repeatedly cited by news outlets and fact‑checkers in coverage of 2024–25 data [1] [3]. The Enumeration Beyond Entry (EBE) program, jointly run with USCIS, issues SSNs to noncitizens who apply for work authorization as part of immigration processes such as asylum adjustments or parole‑related work permits; reporting on EBE shows numbers of SSNs issued under that legal mechanism [2] [3].
2. The raw counts and the political claims: “More than 2 million” vs. program totals
The White House fact sheet from April 2025 asserted “more than 2 million illegal aliens assigned SSNs in fiscal year 2024 alone,” a claim framed as a justification for policy moves and enforcement changes [4]. Media and fact‑checkers documented large increases in noncitizen SSN issuance year‑to‑year — for example, jumping from hundreds of thousands in FY2022 to higher counts in 2023–2024 — but those reports emphasize the recipients’ legal eligibility to work rather than labeling them uniformly “unauthorized” [1] [5] [3].
3. Where reporting and analysis diverge: terminology and implicit agendas
Disagreement in sources centers on who counts as “unauthorized.” Some political messaging treats all noncitizen SSN recipients as “illegal aliens” to argue for revocation or stricter enforcement [4]. Independent fact‑checkers and reporters point out that many recipients received SSNs through lawful processes like EBE after obtaining work authorization or parole and that the SSA’s rules require USCIS authorization for issuance [2] [3]. Watch for the agenda: executive branch fact sheets seek policy justification, while fact‑checkers and SSA materials stress program rules and legal categories [4] [1] [3].
4. Inspector General and program details: partial data, not simple narratives
Audit and program documents (and coverage of them) have published EBE issuance counts and have shown thousands to tens of thousands issued in specific months or program years; such figures feed charts cited in public events and comments [2]. Those internal tallies document program activity but do not equate program SSNs to a raw count of “unauthorized immigrants” without examining each recipient’s immigration status and work permit timeline [2].
5. Fact‑checking verdicts and the limits of current reporting
Multiple outlets that investigated public claims concluded that framing the surge as mass issuance of SSNs to undocumented people committing fraud is misleading: they found legal pathways, EBE procedures and SSA guidance that explain many of the increases [3] [6]. At the same time, political actors and administrations have presented broad totals (for example, the White House’s “more than 2 million” figure) to support policy moves; those totals are not universally decomposed by lawful vs. unlawful status in publicly cited sources [4] [1].
6. Bottom line for the question asked
Available sources do not provide a single, authoritative official count that says “X unauthorized immigrants received SSNs under the Biden administration.” Sources show large increases in SSNs issued to noncitizens and emphasize that SSA issues SSNs to those with USCIS work authorization, while partisan statements sometimes translate program totals into claims about “unauthorized” recipients without the program‑level detail to support that categorical label [1] [2] [4] [3].
Limitations: public documents and reporting cited here distinguish program issuance and work authorization but do not produce a definitive decomposition of SSN recipients by authorized vs. unauthorized immigration status; further clarity would require SSA/USCIS case‑level data not included in these sources [2] [1].