Social Security Agency Announces Correction of Tens of Millions of Files

Federal officials announced on Oct. 20 that they corrected tens of millions of Social Security records, including about 25 million that were missing citizenship information.

The Social Security Administration said it updated about 42 million records in the Social Security Number (SSN) database, representing “the most comprehensive SSN record clean‑up in the agency’s 91-year history.”

A major part of the effort involved using data from the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system, which is maintained by federal immigration officials.

The Social Security Administration updated about 25 million records that had been missing citizenship information, officials said on Tuesday.

The agency also added dates of death to some 17 million records, using internal data and State Department records.

“The Social Security Number database is our country’s books and records. The database’s accuracy is essential to maintaining integrity of government services for citizens. Accurate SSN records prevent fraud across federal programs and support the proper administration of benefits,” Social Security Administrator Frank Bisignano said in a statement.

“This is the first time [the administration] has undertaken an effort of this scale, and I am proud of the work we have done to strengthen the foundation of identity data relied upon throughout government and the economy.”

Nearly every American citizen has a Social Security number. So do nearly 60 million other people, including noncitizens such as international students.

The numbers are used for income tax returns and bank accounts, among other purposes.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2025 launched an updated version of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system using newly accessed records, including Social Security data, under an executive order from President Donald Trump. The system previously contained only immigration records from the department.

Through the updated system, states could find a person’s citizenship status by entering the person’s name, date of birth, or full or partial SSN. The Social Security Administration would receive that information, run it through its database to find a match, and then disclose it to DHS.

Courts blocked the updated system until September, when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Trump administration and lifted the stay. Justices in the majority said that Congress in the 1990s expressly authorized DHS to request and receive citizenship information from the Social Security Administration and other agencies. That meant they would likely side with the government in their final ruling, the justices said.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by two other justices, said in a dissent that the 1990s act cited by the majority did not “overrid[e] the limits that privacy laws impose on the sharing of citizenship information with DHS” and that “when a law imposes an express restriction on disclosure, it is that law—not an ‘entity,’ ‘official,’ ‘person,’ or ‘agency’—that is doing the ‘prohibit[ing]’ or ‘restrict[ing].’”

In a footnote in response, the majority said that “the distinction the dissent draws between laws and those tasked with enforcing them is illusory” and that they were not swayed by the dissent.