Fact check: 275,000 illegals taken off of social security

1. Summary of the results

The claim that "275,000 illegals taken off of social security" receives mixed verification from the available sources. One source directly supports the claim, stating that President Donald Trump says nearly 275,000 illegal migrants have been removed from the U.S. Social Security system ^[1]. However, this appears to be based on Trump's own statements rather than independent verification.

A more critical analysis reveals significant discrepancies in the numbers being cited. One source reports that Trump and Bisignano claimed the agency has 'kicked nearly 275,000 illegal aliens' off of the Social Security system, but notes that around 6,000 people were impacted by Elon Musk's effort to declare immigrants as dead in the agency's database ^[2]. This represents a massive gap between the claimed 275,000 and the actual 6,000 affected individuals.

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original statement omits several crucial pieces of context that significantly alter the narrative:

• Most immigrants cannot collect Social Security benefits without becoming a permanent resident or citizen ^[2], which raises questions about how 275,000 "illegals" could have been receiving benefits in the first place.
• The Trump administration implemented broader anti-fraud measures, with one source noting that his administration has stopped more than 1,000 immigrants with criminal records or ties to terrorist activity from receiving Social Security benefits ^[3] - a much smaller number than the claimed 275,000.
• Elon Musk's claim that Social Security numbers were handed out to more than 2 million immigrants who entered the United States illegally ^[4] provides context about the broader debate over Social Security number distribution, though this doesn't directly support the removal claim.
• President Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum aimed at stopping illegal aliens and other ineligible people from obtaining Social Security Act benefits ^[3], indicating policy changes were implemented, but without confirming the specific 275,000 figure.

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original statement appears to contain significant potential misinformation based on the available evidence:

• The 275,000 figure appears to be inflated by a factor of nearly 46 times, given that only around 6,000 people were actually impacted according to more detailed reporting ^[2].
• The statement presents Trump's claims as established fact without acknowledging that these are disputed figures that lack independent verification.
• Political figures like Trump and his associates benefit from promoting inflated numbers to demonstrate the effectiveness of their immigration and fraud prevention policies, creating incentives for exaggeration.
• The framing as "illegals taken off" suggests these were people improperly receiving benefits, but the context reveals this may largely involve database corrections and anti-fraud measures rather than mass removal of ineligible recipients.

The discrepancy between the claimed 275,000 and the documented 6,000 affected individuals represents a 4,483% inflation of the actual impact, suggesting the original statement may be spreading unverified or deliberately exaggerated claims.