Oakland immigrant blindsided by loss of Social Security benefits, reimbursement demand

After turning 66 in January, Oakland preschool teacher Rosa Carranza applied for Social Security benefits, receiving $1,126 a month in February and March. But in April, an alarming letter arrived in the mail from the Social Security Administration.

“Based on the information we have, we cannot pay benefits beginning March 2025,” the letter said. “We cannot pay you benefits because you are not lawfully present in the U.S.”

But Carranza has lived, worked and paid taxes in the U.S. legally for more than 30 years. She emigrated from El Salvador in 1991 and then years later, in 2001, received Temporary Protected Status, known as TPS, because of political and environmental conditions in El Salvador.

While the status doesn’t put immigrants on a path to citizenship, it can be repeatedly renewed, as it had for Carranza.

The Trump administration has also sought to end the TPS program that protected about 350,000 immigrants from Venezuela from the threat of deportation. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court said it will allow the Trump administration to do so.

Carranza has tried to resolve her problem in person, visiting the Oakland Social Security office to physically show them her work permit. She also filed a complaint with the California Department of Justice, with no response. Her Temporary Protective Status should have automatically renewed, because TSP for Salvadorian immigrants was extended through 2026 earlier this year.

While she waits for an answer from SSA, her benefits remain suspended. She has been asked to reimburse benefits previously received and was informed that she also will be charged a premium to continue with Medicare.

The Social Security Administration is responding to significant changes in public policy surrounding benefits for immigrants.

It shifted thousands of living immigrants to its death file, according to published reports, cutting them off from employment. The administration’s changes also affect the Social Security Administration workforce, which is losing 7,000  jobs in what SSA has described as a “bold agenda to improve services to the public while safeguarding taxpayer dollars.”

And in March, The Associated Press reported that 26 Social Security offices (none in California) were among hundreds of government properties on a list of real estate cancellations on the Department of Government Efficiency’s website.

Trump’s actions — including a quickly dropped plan that would have required recipients to prove their identities either online or in person at Social Security offices — have created anxiety among older Americans, immigrants and their families.

“Mine is not an isolated case,” Carranza said. “I have never seen something like this in 34 years in the United States … the cruelty and the abuse of power.”

The administration said in April that it hasn’t closed any field offices and that its workforce reductions would be achieved through voluntary resignations and retirements.

The Social Security press office this month said there are no plans to close any Oakland field offices, and that the agency “has implemented its workforce optimization plan that focuses on reducing employees in non-mission-critical positions and bolstering staff in mission-critical roles.” Four days later, the press office said, “The number of SSA employees involuntarily removed from federal service so far this fiscal year amounts to one-tenth of one percent of our total employees.”

About 2,500 workers, many in field offices, have left the Social Security workforce, the head of the workers’ union told NPR last month, noting that the union considers those jobs critical.

‘Hands off Social Security’

Many retirees — immigrants and non-immigrants alike — are worried about threats to Social Security, including the effect the job cuts will have on services. Nearly 100 people rallied in front of the Oakland Social Security office in April, chanting “Hands off Social Security!” and “Congress, do your job!” as passers-by honked car horns in support. Most were older adults who said cuts to Social Security would hurt their friends and family members, or impede their own retirement plans.

These cuts will do “unspeakable damage to our way of life,” said Elizabeth Katz, who is retired from the California Public Health Department.

Some held signs that included a link to a complaint form for those with issues accessing Social Security to fill out. Created by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, the form allows recipients to report disruptions to Social Security services, including website outages, difficulty accessing online accounts and delays in benefits.

Bonta is one of 21 attorneys general pursuing a lawsuit against the Trump administration for its disruptions and delays to Social Security benefits, including staff cuts, field office closures and the shuttering of departments.

“Through their erratic and illegal actions, the Trump Administration and DOGE have weakened both the Social Security Administration’s ability to serve people and the public’s trust in essential government services,” Bonta said in an April news release announcing the lawsuit. “This has made it harder — at times impossible — for older adults and persons with disabilities to access the lifesaving benefits and services they depend on.”

U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon, who represents Alameda County, offered an amendment to a bill that would prohibit the Trump administration from reducing any Social Security benefits, but it was blocked by Republicans in March. Simon says she will continue to fight for Social Security, as over 100,000 people in her district depend on it.

“After my husband passed away from cancer, Social Security survivor benefits were a lifeline for my family,” Simon said in a statement. “The Trump Administration’s actions will truly break the bones of the Social Security System and make life harder for people in Oakland.”

This story was produced by “The Stakes,” a UC Berkeley Journalism project on executive orders and actions affecting Californians and their communities.