Social Security Workers Are Being Told to Hand Over Appointment Details to ICE

""If ICE comes in and asks if someone has an upcoming appointment, we will let them know the date and time," an employee with direct knowledge of the directive says. They spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. While the majority of appointments with SSA take place over the phone, some appointments still happen in person. This applies to people who are deaf or hard of hearing and need a sign language interpreter, or if someone needs to change their direct deposit information."

""SSA has been sharing data with ICE for much of president Donald Trump's second term. In April, WIRED reported that the Trump administration had been pooling sensitive data from across the government, including from the DHS, SSA, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). By November, WIRED learned that the SSA had made the arrangements official, and updated a public notice that said the agency was sharing \"citizenship and immigration information\" with DHS.""

SSA offices have instructed certain workers to provide ICE agents with dates and times for customers' in-person appointments. In-person visits remain necessary for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, for direct deposit changes, and for required noncitizen eligibility reviews. Social Security numbers are issued to citizens and many noncitizens, and noncitizen family members sometimes must accompany citizen dependents to office visits. The directive was communicated verbally to some workers and represents increased operational collaboration between SSA and DHS. SSA and DHS did not respond to requests for comment.

Read at WIRED