Post falsely compares Social Security, migrant program | Fact check

A Sept. 28 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims the federal government is giving less money to senior citizens than to people here illegally.
“When the average Social Security check is $1200 a month and we gave each illegal $4000, we’ve got a problem!” the post’s text reads.
The post was shared more than 36,000 times in four days. Similar versions accumulated thousands of additional shares.
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The post is wrong in two ways. There is no program giving $4,000 to each immigrant living in the country illegally, an immigration expert said. And the average monthly Social Security payment for retirees in August 2024 was more than $1,900, well above the amount in the post.
The Facebook post raises and then misrepreents two pivotal issues that have gained attention during the 2024 election season – immigration and the funding of Social Security and other entitlement programs.
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The Facebook post does not specify whether the purported program it references is operated at the local, state or federal level. USA TODAY reached out to several Facebook users who shared the claim but did not immediately receive any responses. But the post’s use of the phrase “each illegal” strongly suggests the action is a federal one that applies to every person in the country who lacks authorization to be in the U.S., said Michelle Mittelstadt, communications director for the Migration Policy Institute.
“And the reality is that the federal government is not giving cash payments, gift cards, vouchers, plane tickets or other gratuities to unauthorized immigrants, whether new arrivals or long-time residents of the U.S.,” Mittelstadt said in an email to USA TODAY.
The claim appears to be a mischaracterization of a New York City program that provides grant money to some immigrants to ease their transition out of shelters. Under the pilot Asylee Moveout Assistance program launched in December 2023, one-time grants of $4,000 went to roughly 150 migrant families living at city Department of Homeless Services shelters who have arranged permanent housing, department spokesperson Neha Sharma told Gothamist in September.
It is modeled after an existing program in New York City not specific to immigrants that provides families who live in shelters and meet certain criteria with one-time $4,000 payments called “enhanced one-shot deals” to help cover some moving costs, Gothamist reported. Immigrants seeking asylum may not qualify for that program due to federal and state restrictions, Sharma told Gothamist.
The post also gets the size of the average Social Security check wrong. While the Social Security Administration says the estimated monthly benefit for retirees changes monthly, that payout is by all indications significantly higher than the post claims.
The average monthly Social Security benefit for retirees in August 2024 was $1,920, according to the agency’s monthly statistical snapshot. That’s slightly higher than it was in January 2024, when it was $1,907. The average payment for everyone who receives Social Security benefits was $1,784, according to the August snapshot.
USA TODAY previously debunked false claims that 51 million “illegals” entered the U.S. under President Joe Biden, that his administration predicted 17 million immigrants during his term and that an executive order granted citizenship to 1 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally.
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