ORLANDO, Fla. — On Monday morning, a big crowd lined up outside the U.S. Social Security Administration office on Gatlin Avenue.
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“I’ve never seen anything like this office. It’s ridiculous,” someone in line told Channel 9.
Long lines are not unusual here — the line has just never been anything like this.
When a Channel 9 crew showed up this morning, there were easily more than 130 people in line before the office opened at 9 a.m.
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The first person in line told us that they showed up at 1:30 a.m.
“No one is telling us anything. There’s no direction. They are just letting us stand out here in the sun,” said Ed Gorman.
Those in line told Channel 9 that showing up early is critical if you want to be helped at this office.
“I started showing up at 5 in the morning and I was number 72 last week,” said Bonny Cain.
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Cain was one of the dozens of people turned away yesterday.
“That’s the worst part. They come out at about 1:30, count up to a certain number and anyone after that is the cutoff. There’s a lady at the front who told me she was here yesterday for five hours and was turned away.”
We watched as security let five people in at a time. Dozens of people in line baked under the Florida sun.
We found out that because of COVID-19 restrictions, the office is only letting in a certain number of people a day. Workers have been telling people to make an appointment online.
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“You cannot make an appointment. I was online all day yesterday. They told me to go online. There’s no way to make an appointment,” Gorman said.
There are appointments online but only for certain services.
Most people in line need card services, which can mostly only be done in person.
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