Sponsors (16)
Excludes wages and self-employment income from unauthorized work by aliens from counting toward Social Security credits and directs SSA to recompute affected benefits.
The bill tightens rules to prevent unauthorized work from generating Social Security credits and clarifies SSA administration—improving program integrity for taxpayers—but at the cost of reduced benefit eligibility for unauthorized/off‑the‑books workers (including some who later legalize), added burdens on employers and SSA, and potential transitional costs and delays.
Social Security Administration staff and claimants will have clearer statutory rules about when wages and self-employment earnings count toward benefits, reducing disputes and making SSA decisions more consistent.
Medicare and Social Security trust funds and taxpayers are less likely to credit earnings from unauthorized work, improving program integrity and reducing improper benefit payments to ineligible workers.
Some beneficiaries (especially current and future retirees and middle‑class workers whose covered earnings are recomputed under the new rules) could see higher Social Security benefit amounts because of recomputation of primary insurance amounts.
Immigrants and other workers with periods of unauthorized or off‑the‑books work (including those who later legalize status) will lose Social Security credits for those periods, reducing future benefit eligibility or amounts and increasing vulnerability to poverty in retirement.
Workers paid off‑the‑books who lose the ability to earn Social Security credits may become more reliant on other safety‑net programs, shifting costs and hardships onto low‑income individuals and families.
The Social Security Administration and other federal staff will face increased administrative workload — determining historical authorization status and recomputing primary insurance amounts — causing transitional costs and possible delays in claim processing and other services.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Official title: To amend title II of the Social Security Act to exclude from creditable wages and self-employment income wages earned for services by aliens illegally performed in the United States and self-employment income derived from a trade or business illegally conducted in the United States.
Introduced February 10, 2025 by John Moolenaar · Last progress February 10, 2025
Removes wages and self-employment income earned while an alien is not authorized to work in the United States from counting toward Social Security benefits, and directs the Social Security Administration to recompute affected benefits. The change applies to earnings before, on, or after enactment but will only reduce benefit payments for months after the law takes effect.