SSA Cancels Plans to Delay Issuance of Social Security Numbers to Newborns

IMMIGRANTS & EMPLOYMENT

Miscellaneous Issues

SSA cancels plans to delay issuance of Social Security numbers to newborns
Immigrants' Rights Update, Vol. 14, No. 5, August 31, 2000

The Social Security Administration (SSA) recently cancelled plans that, if implemented, would have prevented the issuance of Social Security numbers (SSNs) to newborns whose parents do not have numbers matching those in the SSA database. The SSA communicated the cancellation of the plans, which were originally scheduled for implementation in May 2000, to their field offices through an emergency transmittal (EM-00058, May 3, 2000), and to state agencies through an electronic memo dated June 2, 2000.

The June memo was distributed to the state bureaus of vital statistics or records, and also included a second memo for states to send to their hospitals. The SSA now plans to continue issuing numbers to newborn infants, regardless of whether either parent has an SSN.

Under its original plan, the SSA intended to initially deny issuance of numbers to newborns whose applications did not contain at least one valid parental SSN. A letter to parents asking them to go to the field office and provide a valid SSN would then have been sent. The plan was devised in order to implement section 1090(b) of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, which is intended to prevent fraud in the earned income tax credit program.

Immigrants' rights advocates protested that citizen children of undocumented parents would be unable to obtain SSNs and thus be unable to apply for federal programs that require an SSN, such as Medicaid and food stamps. Because the SSA's plans had been in place for months, several states acted before the plan's May 2000 startup date and denied SSNs to a number of citizen newborns.

The SSA is currently working on a flyer that will reassure immigrant communities that their newborn children are eligible for SSNs. In the meantime, advocates encountering problems with the denial of SSNs to citizen newborns may contact NILC's Washington, D.C., office (by sending an email to vance@nilc-dc.org) to request a copy of the SSA electronic memos.