President Donald Trump, speaking from the Oval Office on Thursday, stated that nearly 275,000 noncitizens have been removed from the Social Security database. This also extends to a substantial number of beneficiaries allegedly exceeding the age of 160, who, according to the President, were still in receipt of checks.
This announcement was made as part of the celebrations marking 90 years since the inception of the Social Security system, a taxpayer-funded safety net for seniors, under the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. According to reliable sources, the President suggested that these individuals had already left the country, despite continuing to receive payments from Social Security.
The President spoke directly to Social Security Administrator Frank Bisignano, indicating that the actual figure of removed noncitizens may be even higher. He praised the work of his administration, claiming it was strengthening the system and carrying out historically significant deportations to combat Social Security fraud.
Trump also made a notable mention of what he termed an astonishing number of beneficiaries listed in the Social Security database as being over 120 years of age, including a subset of nearly 135,000 individuals supposedly over the age of 160, some of whom were still receiving payments.
Trump attributed many of the perceived issues with Social Security to policies implemented during the Biden administration. He praised Bisignano’s efforts to reform the agency, particularly highlighting improved response times and decreased backlog in disability claims since the start of his second term.
He claimed that under Biden’s oversight, the Social Security system suffered greatly, with the average call wait time reaching over 42 minutes and a record-setting backlog in disability claims. However, he reported significant improvements under his administration, including a 30% reduction in field office wait times, a 73% decrease in overall wait times while serving twice as many customers per day, and a 26% decrease in disability claims backlog.
Trump also touted the 24/7 online access to accounts now available to seniors, which he said was not previously offered. By contrast, he criticized the Biden administration for a frequently unavailable website, supposedly down for maintenance 29 hours a week.
To conclude, while these claims of improvement under the Trump administration are significant, they present a stark contrast to the President’s views on the prior state of the Social Security system. As we move forward, it is vital to continue monitoring these developments and their impact on one of the nation’s most critical safety nets for seniors.