B. CHANGES IN LAW AND POLICY AFFECTING SOCIAL SECURITY SINCE THE 2023 REPORT Since the Trustees submitted the 2023 report to Congress, there have been no changes in law, policy, or regulation that are expected to have significant financial effects on the OASDI program. However, there have been continued judicial developments related to immigration policy. Beginning in July 2021, pursuant to a United States District Court order, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) paused processing of first-time applications under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy but continued to process renewal applications. The estimates presented in last year’s report reflected the assumption that the DACA program would be fully in effect by the middle of 2023, consistent with the Administration’s intent. On September 13, 2023, the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued a decision which generally affirmed the July 2021 order. As a result, USCIS maintained the approach they have been following, which is to not process first-time applications but to continue processing renewal applications. Changes in DACA policy affect OASDI program operations because those who apply for and receive deferred action status are eligible for work authorization, which leads to additional workers covered by the OASDI program, increased payroll tax revenue, and subsequently increased benefit cost. Because of the continuing court challenges, the estimates in this year’s report incorporate an additional assumed one-year delay in the resumption of processing first-time applications, to the middle of 2024. This change is estimated to have a negligible financial effect on the OASDI program over both the short-range and long-range projection periods. Sections IV.A.4 and IV.B.6 of this report provide further description of the magnitude of effects on the financial status of the OASDI program.
