More than 6,000 living immigrants in the US have been classified as “dead” by the Donald Trump administration in a brutal move to make them leave the country.
The action will hinder the immigrants’ ability to work or receive benefits, make it much harder for those affected to use banks or other basic services where Social Security numbers are required. Social Security has wiped the 6,000 people from its system, so their information – needed to secure jobs – has been erased.
Mr Trump, 78, has always insisted he would crack down on immigration in his second tenure as President. Last month, he even revoked legal status for more than 500,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela in a move for which he was widely condemned.
And the latest decision has sparked anger too, with an advocacy group describing the world leader as “lawless” and it says he is “abusing systems”.
The names and Social Security numbers of the 6,000 immigrants have been moved to a database which federal officials normally use to track the deceased, it is understood. Stripping the immigrants of their Social Security numbers will cut them off from many financial services and encourage them to “self-deport” and abandon the US for their birth countries, an insider said.
It wasn’t immediately clear how the 6,000-plus immigrants were chosen. But the Trump White House has targeted people in the country temporarily under Joe Biden-era programs, including more than 900,000 immigrants who entered the US using that administration’s CBP One app.
On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security revoked the legal status of the immigrants who used that app. They had generally been allowed to remain in the US for two years with work authorisation under presidential parole authority during the Mr Biden era, but are now expected to self-deport.
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, an advocacy group which has challenged various Trump administration efforts in court, said her organisation would likely sue over the Social Security numbers, once more details become available. Ms Perryman added: “This President continues to engage in lawless behavior, violating the law and abusing our systems of checks and balances.”
And meanwhile, British tourists looking forward to a getaway Stateside have been warned they could face a grilling by US border officials amid Mr Trump’s crackdown on foreign visitors.
Tourists could face “enhanced vetting” as Mr Trump has ordered an immigration crackdown with more aggressive methods being used to question legal immigrants and holidaygoers. There have been claims people have been turned away for expressing negative views of the Republican president.
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