At one time, about 15 years ago, the wife and I applied for assistance.
While waiting in the open office setting in El Paso, TX, a woman was there with her translator.
Hearing the translator state the woman was not a citizen, the desk clerk instructed her to “just put all zeros in the Social Security field, list dependents as 9”. No proof required.
Just like that, the woman was maxed out at $1600/mo in food and $2200/mo in cash.
Our family of 7 qualified for $600/mo food. That’s all.
Easy way to find some of the “undocumented” stealing Socail Security funds.
The SSN’s and birth information might have already been on file, or the clerk (who is not a worker) may have expected the worker to take care of any further verifs. It doesn’t matter if you put zeros or ones on the form. Most of these forms aren’t even 100% completed. It matters if you are eligible. It also can be that they were parolee’s or asylee’s in which case we often aren’t allowed to pend the case for social security numbers. Obviously I don’t know the full story because I don’t know what the “clerk” saw or the full circumstances. Children are not eligible to Food Stamps unless they have eligible immigration status and somehow I doubt that an ultra-conservative Texas legislature is going to approve state-funded benefits for illegal children that the Federal program won’t cover.
P.S. don’t stand so close when someone is exchanging their very personal information.