in political science, Politics, Racism & Bigotry, US History 950 Words

Social Security: “You are dead to me.”

Today’s blog post is dedicated to my classmate who said, “This is a beautiful thing to watch.”

Today’s blog post is dedicated to everyone who told me, “We need a businessman in the White House.”

Today’s blog post is dedicated to all the evangelicals who voted for this fascism.

If you take offense at my referring to the Trump Administration as being fascist, file your complaint with Merriam-Webster, not me.

This is how the Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines Fascism:  “a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition.”

If legislating through Executive Orders is not dictatorial, I don’t know what it is. If the shoe fits….

The “red flag” was today’s headline on TV and online: “Thousands of immigrants declared dead, but they aren’t.”

A meme that reads, "First they came for the immigrants, but I wasn't an immigrant."

I had planned to include today’s topic in a blog post sometime next week. It is a post that will contain a list of “highlights” of how things are going in the United States of America; however, the deeper I dived into what is going on at the Social Security Administration, the more concerned I became. It quickly became obvious that this deserved its own blog post.

I looked forward to a respite from the news and a break from blogging over the weekend. I made the mistake of turning on my desktop computer and the TV this afternoon.

If you have not been paying attention today, you might not know what has happened since Thursday… and this is MUCH MORE IMPORTANT than Trump lifting the tariffs from electronics coming from China. The electronics tariff news taking the spotlight today is there is distract you from something happening at the Social Security Administration that should make your blood run cold.

The price of your iPhone or the price of eggs could soon be the least of your worries.

The purpose of the Social Security Death Index (SSDI)

The purpose of the SSDI was to prevent the Social Security number of a deceased person to later be assigned to someone else.

That sounds like a good purpose, doesn’t it?

My deceased parents’ names are in that database. I don’t want their Social Security numbers being reassigned to someone else.

But then the Trump Administration came along…

This is how it went down, according to The Washington Post:

  1. Social Security Administration (SSA) officials made the Trump Administration aware that they had concerns about the security of the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) database. They (SSA officials) were worried that people could be added to the SSDI without proper proof of death.   
  2. The Trump Administration chose to exploit that revelation.
  3. Scott Coulter, the new chief information officer installed by Elon Musk and the folks at the US Department of Homeland Security wanted to use the database for nefarious purposes, so on
  4. Greg Pearre, Associate Commissioner, Office of Systems Architecture at the Social Security Administration, who oversaw a staff of hundreds of technology experts, “clashed with Scott Coulter,” telling Coulter that it was “illegal, cruel and risked declaring the wrong people dead,” according to three people who had knowledge of the events.
  5. Trump appointees did not appreciate Greg Pearre’s knowledge of the law.
  6. The names of 6,100 living immigrants ranging in age from teenagers to octogenarians were declared dead by the Trump Administration and added to the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File, which is apparently being renamed “Ineligible Master File.” (This was done on April 8, 2025, as well as I can determine.)
  7. On Thursday, April 10, 2025, security guards escorted Greg Pearre out of his office and out of the Social Security building in which he worked. A sad ending to anyone’s 25-year career.

No one should be okay with this!

If you are okay with this, may God have mercy on your soul. Your level of hate and bigotry and your disdain for the United States Constitution is greater than I can wrap my head around.

In the name of “Make America Great Again,” my deceased parents (and perhaps yours?) and everyone else who has had a Social Security number and died since the creation of the Social Security Administration in 1937 are on that list, lumped together with living immigrants that Donald Trump wants to rid our country of.  (Forgive me for ending a sentence with a preposition, but the dismantling of American democracy is happening too fast for me to worry as much about grammar as I did three months ago.)

If the Trump Administration doesn’t like you (in other words, if you don’t financially support Donald John Trump, Sr. AND appropriately and publicly sing his praises), you, too, might just find your name on the new Death Index.

I just might find myself dead any day now. Literally or figuratively dead. And it really makes no difference which it is. If the wrong people discover my blog, it could happen to me. That’s the America in which I live in 2025.

A meme that reads, "First they came for the immigrants, but I wasn't an immigrant."

Please don’t think any of this is okay.

Thank you, Greg Pearre, for trying to save the Social Security Administration. I’m sorry your valiant efforts resulted in you losing your job. At least you still have your integrity from your 25-year career in government service.

Thank you for The Washington Post’s reporters who were brave enough to go public with this story!

No, Mr. Trump, the press is NOT the “enemy of the people.” You are, Mr. Trump. You are.

Janet

36 thoughts on “Social Security: “You are dead to me.””

  3. Pat, have you seen the interview on CNN with Judge Esther Salas whose son was murdered because someone didn’t like a ruling his mother had made? Look it up. People are sending judges and judges’ children pizzas in the name of Judge Salas’ dead son so the judges will know that these thugs not only know where the judges live, they know where their children live. This is intimidation to the millionth power! She announced a Speak Up For Justice Day for Tuesday. I just googled it and was able to register for a 12 noon ET zoom event on Tuesday. It’s in response to the “No Rogue Rulings Act” before the Senate to silent federal judges. I guess I need to publish another blog post… maybe tomorrow… about that. I wish I weren’t such a patriot, but it’s in my blood!

    Liked by 2 people

  7. Saw it this afternoon while I was doing my research about the Social Security fiasco. I can’t jot down notes fast enough. It isn’t humanly possible to keep up with all this!

    Liked by 2 people

  9. I agree this is more important than the price of iPhones or eggs, but Trump voters will care more about prices than democracy – they’ve proved that over and over. So I hope that prices will skyrocket to a point where these people will turn against their Great Leader, and Republican politicians finally recognise that it’s not in their own interests to keep supporting his insanity. I’d like to think that other democratic govts are quietly attempting to ensure massive inflation in the US – that’s what I would be doing if I was in power. It’s interesting that the Dow Jones has fallen by nearly twice as much as the FTSE in the last six months. Trump is damaging the world economy for sure. but he’s damaging the American economy even more. And his billionaire friends will know that.

    Liked by 2 people

  11. Sadly, the price of iPhones is all Americans are hearing today if they even take the time to listen to the news. This is an economic disaster of one man’s making, and until it gets severe enough to hurt his own bank account, nothing will improve. Perhaps he can start a war to really distract us. I put absolutely nothing past him. After all, if he starts a war, he will have a bunker to hide in. Thank you for your thoughts.

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  15. Thank you, Carol! I’m gobsmacked, too, and we don’t even use that word over here! I’ve found the “angry” button on Facebook is no longer adequate either. For a government to declare people dead just because they don’t like them or disagree with them is just beyond anything I ever imagined. If I heard of that happening in a Communist country, I would be appalled.

    Liked by 2 people

  16. I’m just wondering when this madness will end and more worrying is what kind of mind does all this come from and why do so many people hang on to every word…it is just mind blowing.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. I’m wondering the same thing, Carol. There are people (including some relatives) that I’ve known all my life who still defend Trump. I would suspect they were raised by wolves, but I know they weren’t. How anyone who has reaped the blessings, opportunities, peace, and freedoms of the United States all their lives… or even for a short time… can think anything that is happening now is all right is beyond my comprehension. We knew from the first Trump Administration that one of his staff, Stephen Miller, was an evil person, but he is really in his element now and able to pour cruel ideas into Trump… as if Trump needed anyone else’s ideas. Trump has absolutely surrounded himself with “yes men” and “yes women” this time around. Members of his Cabinet appear on CNN for interviews every afternoon and just grin and tell us how well things are going and how they are even going to get better. Interviewers can argue with them with facts, but these people cannot be bothered with facts. They are living in Trump’s fantasy world, and I suppose they are so rich they don’t have to worry about the future. It is appalling and frightening. I can’t even rest on the weekend because the bad news never takes a break. Even though Trump is happily playing golf this weekend (like every weekend) in Florida, his people are working 24 hours a day to turn our world upside down. Thank you for letting me vent some of my frustration! Tomorrow is another day, and I wonder what cruelty it will bring.

    Liked by 2 people

  20. A very good and informative post Janet, like all in this series. And people should realise that countries are not businesses and should not follow the business model of acquiring profit. A country should never have profit as it tempts the corrupt to steal. A country has to give to its people not take from them. Unless the government is nothing more than an organised criminal organisation. All the best to you Janet and my wishes for a blessed and beautiful Palm Sunday.

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  21. Dear Janet,
    The news of the immigrants declared dead made it into our papers too.
    This is no longer a warning — democracy has died in America. The world watches, grieving and in silence. We must never see this as normal. We must stand together. Always.
    Keep going, Janet. Your voice matters.
    Greetings from The Netherlands.

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  22. My fathers sister married an American therefore I have American cousins who are hardworking, Christian with polite well raised children one is a Vet , One a doctor and they voted for Trump I haven’t raised that isssue with them but I can’t think why on earth they think all of this is ok…

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  23. I feel exactly the same as you do Janet. What has happened to our country to allow what is going on? Trump is hurting so many Americans with job loss and destroying our retirement money in the stock market. Trump thinks he is running a business with our country, he will never put the people first, only himself!

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  25. You’re absolutely correct, Francis. It has always infuriated me when anyone says a government should be run like a business. I hope enough Americans have learned that lesson since January 20th. Most of the damage is yet to be realized. The US is now being run like the Mafia. These tariffs are going to boil down to which countries can strike a deal with Trump but they’ll soon find they cannot give him enough. He is the bully on the playground. He is the mobster always demanding more. I don’t know how this is going to end, but it’s just a game and power grab for him. We had a beautiful but a bit chilly Palm Sunday. I hope you had a wonderful Palm Sunday there as well. I wish you a meaningful Holy Week.

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  26. Thank you, Matroos. Something happened to my soul when I learned about the immigrants being declared dead. Only a madman does such a thing! And as more and more stories surface about how people are being turned away as they land at an airport to enter the US… even people who have lived here for years with time remaining on their work visas being turned away… I weep for them, and I weep for my country. In the wee small hours this morning when I was unable to sleep, I read a story about a man from Australia who has lived here more than five years and had more than 12 months remaining on his work visa. He had flown to Australia to scatter his sister’s ashes. When he flew back and landed in Texas he was treated like a criminal, called names, and refused entry. He was put on a plane back to Australia and cannot return to his home in the US for five years. Everything he owns is at his home in the US, but he was not allowed to even go to his home to retrieve items. I don’t want to believe the story, but it is apparently true. I don’t understand why people are being treated like this. It is inhumane and unforgiveable. It is against everything the US has always stood for. I was determined to write a normal blog for tomorrow about the “Dust Bowl” time in our history, but on Tuesday and Wednesday my blog will be another avalanche of hitting the highlights of what has happened just in the last five or six days… and whatever else happens before Wednesday. I keep hoping I will get through to someone here who has believed Trump’s lies. I also want to get the word out to whoever lands on my blog in another country because I don’t know what they are hearing. I spent the entire weekend taking notes, verifying my sources, and organizing the information. After only two hours of sleep, I went to church this morning, but this afternoon I was back at work on my blog. I try my best to set aside Sunday. It was meant for a day of rest. That’s the example my parents set. It is how I have tried to live my life. But it is 11:00 pm, I am exhausted, and in a few hours we begin another week of business and government and all they entail,… and I wonder what the week holds. Thank you for your encouragement. It means more than you know for me to hear from someone in another country who is watching what is happening here, caring about what is happening here, and is standing by us… and wishing there was something they could do. You are doing it, Matroos. By offering encouragement and telling me you care… you are doing it. Thank you for standing with us.

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  27. You are in a awkward situation, Carol. I do believe that nearly every American is in that same awkward situation. My sister and I cannot discuss politics with our brother. I have a friend in her 50s who can no longer communicate with her parents in their 80s. It is common now … even before Trump was reelected… that family gatherings for holidays or family birthdays and anniversaries are strained to the point that such gatherings only leave people with a sense of dread because they know there is always at least one person in the family who feels compelled to bring up politics at the table even though they know everyone in the group does not agree with them. It seems it is always the family member with the most extreme right-wing opinions that will bring it up. They don’t bring it up for discussion. They bring it up to start an argument… and argument no one wins… and eventually everyone goes home and either dreads the next time they have to be together or vows they will just cut themselves off from the relatives they disagree with. It is impossible to find common ground anymore. One thing we were taught in school about the American Civil War was that it often pitted “brother against brother.” Those words never made any sense to me because I couldn’t imagine being at such deep odds with my brother (literally) that we would be on opposing sides in a civil war. (I might use some of this in my blog I’m considering for Thursday.) I’m sorry there is now a bit of an invisible wall perhaps between you and your cousins. It’s a wall they probably aren’t even aware of, since they support Trump. His followers tend to think everyone sees things the way they see them. It is not unusual to find oneself in a social situation with strangers and suddenly a Trumper will make a proclamation of sorts about how wonderful Trump is. They feel comfortable doing so because they assume everyone in the group feels the same way they do. It is probably best if you can continue to avoid discussing American politics with your American cousins. We can only hope and pray that at least enough of the Trumpers will come to their senses and see him for the evil person he is before it’s too late for our democracy to be saved. Thank you, Carol. I value your comments more than you can imagine.

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  28. I’m watching in horror every day, Diane. I fear we have lost our democracy along with our retirement funds, such as they were. I was already antsy about having enough money to live out my life. Now I’m pretty sure I won’t. When I was a little girl there were “county homes” where people went to live when they had no means of support. That safety net is not there for us. As a 72-year-old single person, it is a growing concern. If our economy tanks, I guess we’ll all be in the same boat without a paddle.

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  30. Bless you, Janet I have visited America a few times and always felt an affinity and in many ways envious I am envious no longer I just feel a great sadness for a great counttry that so many around the world looked up to and know longer feel that affinity…or respect I just feel sad for the people who feel that losss like yourself Hugs xx

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  31. Thank you so much Janet! Our weather is strange these days, cloudy, winters-looking but not too cold. And it may be a rainy Holy Week. Hope you are well and good and enjoy good weather. All the best Janet.

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  32. Thank you, Carol. Yes, we were the envy of the world in so many ways. Past tense. Unbelievably sad. I am more crushed today after listening to the joint news conference held today by Trump and the president/dictator of El Salvador. Day in and day out we are being slammed by Trump. He is using the American people — and people around the world — as his own personal punching bag. Thank you so very much for your words of support and caring.

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  33. Feeling low this afternoon, Francis, after watching the joint press conference held by Trump and the president/dictator of El Salvador which slammed the door on bringing Abrego Garcia back to the US… and reading Trump’s social media post attack on CBS News last night — calling on the Federal Communications Commission to revoke the network’s license. Another week, another string of attacks on our democracy.

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  34. I can certainly understand Janet. All of us here are outraged and quite angered, but the only thing I can hold on to is my faith and knowledge that no matter what a “leader” thinks, God is in charge. Take good care Janet and a peaceful afternoon.

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