Whistleblower alleges the Trump administration planned to mark 2.7 million living people as dead to pressure immigrants to self-deport

According to The Washington Post, a whistleblower disclosure has come forward alleging that President Donald Trump’s administration planned to mark 2.7 million living people as dead. The proposal was reportedly part of efforts led by Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative. The stated intent was to pressure immigrants to self-deport by cutting off their access to the financial system.

Jeremiah Schofield, a former senior Social Security executive with more than 20 years at the agency, brought these claims forward in a 49-page disclosure to the Senate. According to the document, the plan aimed to make life so difficult for immigrants that they would choose to leave the country. If they tried to fix these problems at Social Security offices, the goal was reportedly to have them arrested.

Schofield says he found the potential scale of the plan after taking a sample of the 2.7 million names and finding that every person was alive. The list included U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, teenagers, and senior citizens. One person in the sample was a widow and legal permanent resident who was receiving survivor benefits at the time.

Former executive describes the meeting where the plan was explained

Schofield described the mood inside the agency during this period as chaotic. He recalled a meeting where a DOGE official working with the Department of Homeland Security explained the strategy. He told reporters the experience was deeply upsetting, saying, “That call was one of the most disappointing calls I’ve been in in my 25-year career.” He added, “I was shocked. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”

When faced with these allegations, Schofield reportedly refused to help carry out the plan. He took this position after agency lawyers warned that falsely declaring living people as dead would likely break federal law. The disclosure comes amid wider concern over how the courts are handling deportation cases more quickly.

The Social Security Administration responded to the allegations through an unnamed spokesperson. The spokesperson said the agency “did not add a list of 2.7 million names to the Death Master File,” which is the main database used to track deaths. The spokesperson said the agency keeps strong internal controls to make sure its records are accurate.

Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Lauren Bis did not directly address whether the plan existed. Instead, she focused on the value of agencies sharing data. She said such efforts are essential to identify people in the country, including those who may pose public safety or terror threats, and to determine what public benefits are being used at taxpayer expense. 

The claims add to ongoing scrutiny of immigration enforcement, including reports that the administration removed immigration judges over their rulings. This is not the first time DOGE’s activities have come under scrutiny. 

Earlier this year, another whistleblower alleged that a former staffer claimed to have access to sensitive databases such as Numident and the Master Death File. According to that disclosure, the staffer allegedly kept “God-level” security access and agency credentials long after leaving the organization, and reportedly claimed to have data on a thumb drive for use at a private company.