Elon Musk presented a chart at a Wisconsin rally, claiming it showed that millions of noncitizens had been issued Social Security numbers during Joe Biden’s presidency.
The rally, held just days before a pivotal state judicial election, gained further attention on Monday when Musk handed out $1 million checks to two Wisconsin voters who had signed a petition calling for an end to “activist judges.”
The state’s Supreme Court had recently declined to hear a challenge questioning the legality of the sweepstakes.
During the event, Musk invited his friend and DOGE colleague Antonio Gracias to the stage to discuss their ongoing efforts to audit the federal government’s Social Security system. As Gracias spoke, a large graphic titled “New Non-Citizen Social Security Numbers Issued” was displayed behind them.
“We started at the top, mapping out the entire Social Security system to track fraud,” Gracias explained. “But this is what stood out to us,” he continued, pointing at the chart. “When we saw these numbers, we thought, ‘What is this?’”
The chart showed a steady increase in the number of noncitizens receiving Social Security numbers from FY 2021 to FY 2025, with the figure surpassing two million in FY 2024, which ended on September 30. In FY 2023 and FY 2025, the numbers hovered around one million.
“This literally blew us away,” Gracias said. “We were looking for fraud, and we stumbled upon this.”
Musk echoed his reaction, calling it a “mind-blowing chart.”
The figures have added fuel to the ongoing scrutiny of federal programs by Musk and DOGE, which have been conducting audits of various agencies, including the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Last week, DOGE announced that it had removed roughly seven million Social Security accounts belonging to individuals listed as being over 120 years old.
Additionally, audits revealed that 20 million deceased individuals were still marked as alive in the Social Security database. Musk shared these findings with the Wisconsin audience, reinforcing his concerns about the system’s integrity.
The debate over noncitizen access to public services has intensified since President Donald Trump signed an executive order shortly after taking office, directing all public assistance and social service programs to be reserved for U.S. citizens.
In response to this directive, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched a joint initiative last week to strengthen communication between the agencies and ensure noncitizens do not receive benefits from public housing programs.
The issue of Social Security access for noncitizens is likely to remain a focal point in political debates, particularly as Trump’s administration continues to implement stricter policies on public benefits and immigration. With Musk and DOGE’s ongoing audits, further revelations could fuel more controversy in the months ahead.