Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has announced that fourteen illegal aliens have been charged with defrauding the Social Security Administration and stealing American citizens’ identities.
A total of 14 illegal aliens, 12 of whom are from Honduras, were charged with aggravated identity theft, misuse of Social Security numbers, and making false statements.
The defendants, including one Guatemalan and one Mexican national, were indicted on separate dates over the past two years.
If convicted, the individuals face a minimum penalty of two years—up to 12 years—in federal prison, ICE said.
The arrests came amid an ongoing operation that included ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Department of Labor, and several local law enforcement agencies in Florida.
The Trump Administration has vowed to crack down on identity theft committed by illegal immigrants after an Arizona woman recently pleaded guilty to defrauding U.S. companies while making $17 million for herself and North Korea.
Christina Marie Chapman, 48, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit identity theft, wire fraud, and laundering monetary instruments, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Chapman assisted foreign IT workers who posed as U.S. citizens to work remote jobs for more than 300 American companies.
According to the news release, the scheme generated almost $17 million in illicit revenue for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) government.
Meanwhile, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) confirmed it will work with ICE to help locate and detain illegal aliens with outstanding deportation orders.
The agency has also developed a new task force to locate and detain illegal aliens engaged in Social Security fraud and identity theft.
As we reported earlier this month, Elon Musk said he expects arrests in connection to a significant Social Security fraud operation involving illegal aliens and the stolen identities of over 400,000 Americans.
Musk confirmed the fraud was part of a broader effort to exploit the U.S. welfare systems and voter rolls by illegal immigrants.
While responding to a caller in Pulaski who asked about Social Security fraud, Musk said, “Yes. In fact, I believe someone is going to be arrested tomorrow.”
“This is someone who actually stole 400,000 Social Security numbers and personal information from the Social Security database, and was selling Social Security numbers and all the identification information in order for people to basically steal money from Social Security.”
“This is a particular avenue of fraud for illegal immigrants and for voter fraud, because the main way that identification is established in the United States is via Social Security,” Musk explained.
“So if you compromise the Social Security system, you can basically get people de facto registered to vote, even if they’re not citizens, and to get a bunch of benefits and milk the system. It’s pretty insane.”
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