As the Trump administration resumes collections on defaulted student loans, hundreds of thousands of older Americans with decades-old debts are now at risk of having their Social Security checks garnished.

That involuntary collection activity could have serious consequences on those who rely on the benefits to pay most, if not all, of their bills, consumer advocates say.

U.S. student loan borrowers ran into trouble during the first quarter after the government lifted a long-running moratorium on debt repayment implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Tuesday.