Social Security will stop mailing cards to 3 million people, report says. It could cause chaos at field offices.

Yahoo

21-03-2025

The Social Security Administration has frozen a program that automatically processes Social Security cards and sends them through the mail for certain people, such as newly naturalized U.S. citizens and noncitizens granted work authorization, a newsletter reported on Thursday. The change, which could affect millions of workers, will force those people to visit field offices that are already overcrowded and understaffed.
This program — which operates under an agreement between the Social Security Administration and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and is known as Enumeration Beyond Entry — has been 'temporarily' frozen for 'noncitizens granted work authorization' and 'newly naturalized U.S. citizens,' according to the Popular Information newsletter, and it is unknown how long the freeze will be in place or if it will ever be lifted. Individuals granted permanent residence status are also covered under the EBE program but were exempted from the freeze, the newsletter reported.
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In 2024, USCIS approved initial employment authorization documents for more than 3.24 million people. Without the EBE program, those people will be required to visit a Social Security field office to obtain a Social Security number and card.
'Should the freeze remain in place for more than a few days, 60,000 to 75,000 additional people per week will need to visit a field station to obtain a Social Security number,' the newsletter reported.
In an emailed statement in response to questions about whether the program was being halted and why, the SSA said: 'We are monitoring it closely. And we will provide an update as appropriate.'
Read: Who can help me with my Social Security problem now that staff and services are being cut?
The changes to the program come as the SSA is cutting 7,000 jobs, or 12% of its workforce, which was already at 50-year low in staffing. It is also eliminating six regional offices and closing field offices, while at the same time, in what it describes as an effort to combat identity fraud, requiring people to either verify their identity online or go in person to a field office, rather than using the agency's phone service to complete the process as they were previously able to do.
Read: Social Security Administration to cut phone service for direct-deposit transactions
The SSA, whose most sensitive data is now being reviewed by the Elon Musk-led entity known as the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, already has an average wait time of one month for an in-person appointment, and currently, some people must travel as far as 100 miles to reach their nearest field office, the newsletter said.
The EBE program 'improves accuracy and efficiency,' said Kathleen Romig, the director of Social Security and disability policy at the nonpartisan Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, in an emailed comment. 'Because it's automatic, the more than three million people who participate each year do not have to visit a Social Security office to get their cards. That frees up SSA's frontline staff to answer calls, take appointments, and process claims from everyone else,' she said.
'Driving over three million more people into SSA's field offices will lead to longer wait times on the phone and in offices for everyone who seeks SSA services,' Romig said. 'Worsening service at SSA will harm retirees, grieving families, and people with disabilities who need benefits; job seekers, newly married women, and others who need replacement cards; victims of identity theft who need assistance; and beneficiaries who need to make updates or have problems.'
Nancy Altman, president of the advocacy group Social Security Works, said the new EBE policy 'will burden millions, while helping exactly no one.'
'It will do nothing to reduce fraud, and indeed, will create duplication and waste,' she said. 'The main effect will be to overwhelm the Social Security field offices and create longer wait times for everyone. This makes no sense — unless the real goal is to break our Social Security system.'
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