At a Wisconsin town hall event in March, the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) Elon Musk and Antonio Gracias revealed the massive jump in noncitizens being issued Social Security numbers under the Biden administration.
The graph, displayed on a large screen behind the two as they spoke, showed that in the Fiscal Year 2021, 270,425 noncitizens were given social security numbers. That rose to 590,193 in FY2022, 964,163 in FY2023. In 2024, there was a massive jump, rising to 2,095,247 noncitizens being issued Social Security numbers.
Gracias said that DOGE had started at the top of the system to understand "where all the fraud was" in Social Security. He said the numbers of those noncitizens being issued Social Security numbers "jumped out at us." He said, "we went there to find fraud, and we found this by accident." Musk called it a "mind-blowing chart."
Once a noncitizen is released into the country, either through asylum or other means, "you can apply for a work document. You file a 765, it’s the work form. You get this form called the 766, that’s the authorization, and then the Social Security Administration automatically sends you in the mail your Social Security number. No interview, no ID." Gracias said that DOGE also found that 1.3 million noncitizens were on Medicaid, and that some were registered to vote and had voted.
Asylum applicants can apply for a work authorization five months following the filing of their asylum application. Gracias said that it could be years before their case is heard before an immigration judge.
