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"These guys are trying to take a torch to the entire concept that we should care about each other as humans.”
In the first weeks of the second Trump presidency, one thing has become clear to the public: Elon Musk is the power behind this administration and Trump is…
The Social Security Administration receives billions in free money each year from an unexpected source: undocumented immigrants.
This group paid an estimated $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes in 2022, according to a recent analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning tax research group. Since unauthorized workers cannot collect retirement and other Social Security benefits without a change to their immigration status, the billions they pour into the program effectively act as a subsidy for American beneficiaries.
President-elect Donald J. Trump has vowed to carry out the nation’s largest mass deportation program to date, and restrict legal pathways to immigration. It’s hard to predict whether the incoming administration will be able to follow through with its most aggressive promises, among them sending home the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in the United States, most of whom are of working age.
But if the White House does follow through, economists project a broad drag on the economy — and it could cost Social Security roughly $20 billion in cash flow annually, according to actuaries at the Social Security Administration, which sends benefits to 68 million Americans each month, totaling $1.5 trillion last year.
Social Security has faced a financing shortfall for years, partly because of demographic shifts. Falling birthrates mean fewer people are paying into the program, thousands of baby boomers are retiring daily, and retirees are collecting benefits for longer periods.
“America’s demographic realities are increasingly challenging for financing programs like Social Security,” said Shai Akabas, executive director of the economic policy program at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonprofit. “Net immigration into the country is one factor that has positively pushed against that trend and helped fill the gap left by an aging work force.”
The trust fund that pays Social Security’s retiree benefits is expected to run dry in 2033, when tax revenue will be enough to pay 79 percent of scheduled benefits. That means beneficiaries’ checks would be reduced by 21 percent if Congress did nothing. (Legislators are expected to do something, though there is a debate about the best approach to shore up the program.)
Major shifts to immigration policy could have ripple effects on Social Security. The net immigration rate was projected to drive population growth — and account for all population increases beginning in 2040 because American fertility rates are so low, according to a 2024 report from the Congressional Budget Office.
“If the immigrant work force declines, that will likely worsen Social Security’s financial picture in the near term and require more significant reforms elsewhere,” said Mr. Akabas of the Bipartisan Policy Center, which recently studied the issue. “That said, the broader questions of immigration policy and border security require careful thought that goes beyond their impact on the Social Security program.”
To get a sense of how different levels of immigration — both lawful and otherwise — can alter the program’s finances over the long term, we can look at the Social Security Administration’s latest annual trustees report, which forecasts the financial health of the combined trust fund for retiree and disability benefits over a 75-year period starting in 2024. (Social Security’s shortfall is often measured as a percentage of the total payroll covered by the program, or all the wages subject to payroll taxes, the program’s dedicated funding source.)
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The trustees’ best estimate assumes a population of 1.24 million net immigrants each year. At that rate, the program needs an additional 3.5 percent of its taxable payroll to become fully solvent. But if annual net immigration fell to 829,000 (its low estimate), the program’s long-term financing shortfall would worsen by about 10 percent (to 3.9 percent of taxable payroll from 3.5 percent).
But if net immigrants rose to nearly 1.7 million annually, the financing shortfall would improve by 10 percent (to 3.1 percent of payroll).
In other words, for every 100,000 net immigrants each year, the funding gap is improved by 0.09 percent of taxable payroll.
“Most of these individuals are earlier in their careers and begin contributing to Social Security immediately, even though they will not claim benefits for years into the future, if ever,” a Bipartisan Policy Center report said. “This creates a net positive effect on the Social Security system.”
Undocumented workers are still required to pay taxes on any income earned in the United States, and it’s estimated that at least half of them file federal tax returns. But even if they have contributed to payroll taxes, they are not permitted to collect any Social Security benefits and many other credits, including the earned-income tax credit, which requires that all tax filers and their dependents have valid Social Security numbers.
Employers are generally required to verify prospective workers’ identities and their eligibility to work using the I-9 form, and to collect documentation as evidence. Since people generally need a Social Security number to get a job, undocumented workers who receive paychecks — instead of being paid in cash, for example — may use made-up Social Security numbers, another person’s number or a number that was once valid when they had work authorization status.
But when they file their tax returns, they use another number: the individual taxpayer identification number, also nine digits and known as ITINs. The Internal Revenue Service created them in 1996 to enable people who are ineligible or who do not have Social Security numbers to legally file tax returns and comply with tax laws — say, a student visa holder or certain spouses of people with employment visas.
Though undocumented workers may fear that their having obtained an ITIN could be used to deport them, there are protections that prevent the I.R.S. from sharing taxpayer information with other federal agencies. Congress would need to take legislative action for this to change.
Undocumented workers often file tax returns to show good moral character, which might later help them in any immigration cases, whether that’s related to deportation or putting them on the road to citizenship.
“They want to integrate into American society, and this is an important way to do that,” said Sarah Lora, an associate clinical professor at Lewis & Clark Law School and the director of its low-income-taxpayer clinic. “There is almost a reverence for the tax system,” she said, referring to the attitudes of undocumented taxpayers she has assisted with returns.
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that undocumented workers paid a total of $96.7 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022, a third of which went toward the payroll taxes that are dedicated to paying for social insurance programs, including Social Security, Medicare and unemployment taxes.
“It is well established that undocumented workers contribute to the solvency of major social insurance programs through their tax contributions,” said Carl Davis, research director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
A correction was made on Jan. 14, 2025: An earlier version of this article stated incorrectly the status of 11 million undocumented people in the United States. There are 11 million undocumented immigrants, not 11 million undocumented workers.
In 2022, Curtis Yarvin envisioned a Trump Administration in which a DOGE-like entity with vast powers would run the federal government.
Wired reported this week that a 19-year-old working for Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was given access to sensitive US government systems even though his past association with cybercrime communities should have precluded him from gaining the…
Mark Pocan, serving as the US representative from Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district since 2013, is planning to introduce the Eliminate Looting of Our Nation by Mitigating Unethical State Kleptocracy (ELON MUSK) Act, which he said is similar to the bans on the Members of Congress and other federal employees.
A menu of options being circulated by congressional Republicans also includes new tax cuts for corporations and the ultrawealthy.
Just a few weeks into Donald Trump's presidency, unelected official Elon Musk has already been wildly successful in his deregulation quest.
"This is a drop everything and reprioritize your day request," a directive "per NASA HQ direction" stated.
Members reportedly sought access to IT systems at agency that Project 2025 has called ‘harmful to US prosperity’
Billionaire Elon Musk was the focus of many in Washington this week, as his Department of Government Efficiency slashed at the federal bureaucracy.
The agency is accused of improperly opposing the rescheduling proposal, conspiring with prohibitionist groups and stacking the witness deck.
'Am I missing something or is he confessing to yet another (expletive) crime?!' she posted on X.
Former "Maga granny" Pamela Hemphill tells the BBC the Trump government is trying to "rewrite history".
The confessions of a concerned bird.
1/10/2025
To Whom It May Concern,
I'm writing this with a heavy heart and no small amount of fear. As a former X (formerly Twitter) employee on an H1B visa, I can't reveal my identity without risking everything, but I can't stay silent any longer about what I saw and was made to do.
When Elon Musk took over, everything changed. What started as a social media company became something much darker. I was part of a team that was directly ordered to manipulate Twitter's systems to influence the 2024 US presidential election. It wasn't subtle, and it wasn't ethical.
We completely changed how the algorithm worked, pushing pro-Trump and right-wing posts to the top of people's feeds. To make it look balanced, we also boosted some left-wing critics of Democrats, but it was all carefully calculated. These changes didn't just affect Americans - they impacted users worldwide.
One of the most disturbing things we did was create thousands of fake accounts using advanced AI systems called Grok and Eliza. These accounts looked completely real and pushed political messages that spread like wildfire. Havn't you noticed they all disappeared? Like magic.
We also knowingly allowed foreign governments to manipulate the platform. State-backed groups from Israel, Iran, and Russia were running their own influence campaigns, and because their goals aligned with ours, we looked the other way. Even when they clearly broke the rules, we didn't stop them.
Perhaps the most unethical part was how we manufactured news stories. One team would write completely fake articles, while another team would artificially boost their engagement metrics to make them go viral. We specifically targeted certain groups of people, knowing exactly how to manipulate their views and emotions.
The moderation team became a tool for our agenda. We systematically silenced anyone who got in our way, enforcing the rules when it suited us and ignoring them when it didn't. Elon Musk himself was deeply involved in these decisions, often joking about being "Black Hat MAGA."
What started as US election interference has now spread to other countries. We're currently doing the same thing in Germany and other European nations. The damage we've done is immeasurable, and I don't know if it can ever be fixed. People don't know what's real anymore, and that's exactly what we wanted.
The pilot program for the Eliza AI Agent, was election interference. Eliza was release officially in October of 2024, but we had access to it before then thanks to Marc Andreessen.
I'm terrified to be writing this, but I had to speak up. I just hope that someone with the power to do something about this sees this letter. You'll know what i’m saying is the truth by Elon's actions to the news someone spoke out. For more evidence look at the docs of Eliza AI Agent software. We left bread crumbs.
Yours sincerely,
A former employee who can't sleep at night.
We need to stay focused on the areas where Trump’s plans are the most destructive and cruel.