The Trump administration directed the Social Security Administration (SSA) to place more than 6,300 migrants on its list for tracking dead people, blocking their ability to work in a move it hopes will encourage them to “self-deport.”

The request from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to place the migrants on the “Ineligible Master File” maintained by the SSA would bar migrants from receiving benefits or being able to work in the United States.

The move targeted those who were legally permitted to enter the country under President Biden and were given taxpayer identification numbers and work authorizations but who have since had their status revoked by the Trump administration.

“President Trump promised mass deportations and by removing the monetary incentive for illegal aliens to come and stay, we will encourage them to self-deport. He is delivering on his promise he made to the American people,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston said in a statement.

The White House has asserted those who have had their status revoked and their Social Security number moved to the “death list” were either on the terrorist watch list or were found to have criminal records through the FBI. 

It’s a move that may run afoul of SSA policy, as the Ineligible Master File is reserved for those who the agency knows are dead.

The SSA did not respond to request for comment, but according to The New York Times, SSA acting Commissioner Leland Dudek, wrote in an email to staff that the “financial lives” of those on the list would be “terminated.”

According to the Times, among the termination list are eight children, prompting fears about the accuracy of the information given to the SSA.

The move is the latest in a number of efforts by the Trump administration to tap into data from other agencies as part of its immigration agenda.

The Department of Homeland Security signed an agreement with the IRS earlier this week to share the current addresses of migrants who have been ordered removed from the country within the past 90 days.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus blasted the agreement, saying the IRS has “no legal authority” to share taxpayer information.

“The Internal Revenue Code (IRC) explicitly safeguards taxpayer privacy, regardless of immigration status. Under 26 U.S.C. § 6103, tax returns and taxpayer information are strictly confidential and can only be disclosed under narrow exceptions that do not include immigration enforcement,” the caucus wrote in a letter to the IRS obtained by The Hill.