The Lawfare Podcast Lawfare Daily: Social Security, the ‘Death Master File,’ and Immigration Enforcement
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May 2, 2025 Kathleen Romig, Director of Social Security and Disability Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and Devin O’Connor, Senior Fellow at the same center, delve into alarming developments regarding the Social Security Administration's 'Death Master File.' They discuss how this data is being misused in immigration enforcement, risking grave consequences for living immigrants wrongly marked as deceased. The conversation addresses ethical concerns, oversight failures, and the broader implications of politicizing Social Security in the current landscape.
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Understanding the Death Master File
- The Death Master File is a Social Security database that tracks death dates to manage benefits eligibility.
- It includes every Social Security number holder marked as deceased, used to prevent improper payments and fraud.
Doge's Synthetic Death Dates
- Elon Musk's Doge project uses synthetic death dates in the Death Master File for people, especially born before 1920.
- This breaks usual Social Security safeguards, risking marking living people as dead without confirmation.
Living People Falsely Marked Dead
- Over 6,300 people, including minors, were added as deceased even though they are alive.
- This was to target immigrants whose lawful status was revoked, reflecting a novel and troubling use of the Death Master File.