The United States administration under Donald Trump is escalating its pressure on immigrants. It is alleged that the White House will cancel the social security numbers of these individuals to force them to “self-deport.” According to information from documents seen by The New York Times (NYT) and knowledgeable sources about the plan, the aim is to cancel the social security numbers of some immigrants legally residing in the country to push them into leaving the U.S. Key officials believe that by doing this, access to financial services like bank accounts and credit cards will be cut off for immigrants.

In a move to put pressure on immigrants, the social security “death master file” is said to be reshaped for this purpose. This file was previously used to keep records of individuals who should not be receiving welfare benefits due to being deceased. Now, names believed by the government to be “dead” will be added to this file to limit their access to financial services. As a result of adding immigrants to the death database, these individuals will be blacklisted in a way. Documents cited by NYT state that over 6,300 immigrants had their legal status cancelled at the beginning of the week and were added to the file.

The first names added to the file according to the documents were individuals labeled by the U.S. administration as “convicted felons” and “terrorism suspects.” However, officials pointed out that this effort could be expanded without any approval or authorization. An email sent by Social Security Administration official Leland Dudek to employees mentioned that the individuals added to the file will have their “financial lives ended.” Concerns have been raised about the new authority given to the Social Security Administration in immigration matters, fearing that incorrect data could lead to individuals, including U.S. citizens, being unintentionally or improperly added to the list.

Moreover, many changes within the agency were said to be led by business executive and advisor to U.S. President Trump, Elon Musk. Musk previously claimed that the agency had paid billions to deceased individuals and argued that Democrats were enabling immigrants to stay in the U.S. by providing them with social security numbers, thus being able to alter the country’s demographics. Immigrants who obtain legal work rights in the U.S. are given social security numbers; some immigrants can also benefit from federal assistance.