Trump Administration stops program that automatically issued social security cards to eligible immigrants

Under President Trump, the Social Security Administration (SSA) ended the Enumeration Beyond Entry (EBE) program.

The EBE agreement, which was a federal government agreement between the SSA and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), allowed USCIS to provide the SSA with information to issue social security cards to qualifying immigrants who have applied for permanent residence (I-485), citizenship (N-400), or work authorization (I-765).

Notably, this program began in 2017 under then-president Trump’s first term, but it was unceremoniously terminated on March 19, 2025 under his second term without explanation, as far as EA Law LLC can tell.

Now, those eligible immigrants will have to contact the SSA directly, wasting countless hours of their time, and of taxpayer-funded resources. So, if your line gets longer at the SSA, you can thank Donald J. Trump for making our government needlessly more expensive and inefficient.

If you have applied for one of those benefits and have not received your social security card, please do not blame your lawyer; it’s probably the inefficient and foreseeable result of this rule. Please contact the SSA to resolve it.

If you have any immigration-law related questions, please consult an attorney. We offer free consultations.