Rebuttal to current Social Security RW email

[flamin lib]

There’s an email making the circuit now about illegal aliens collecting social security benefits. It’s completely false, but it sure gets some folks mighty upset.

This urban legend has its roots in two pieces of legislation: the 2004 “totalization” agreement between Mexico and the United States and the Ensign amendment to the 2006 Immigration Reform Act. Good article here about the “totalization” agreement: http://www.numbersusa.com/hottopic/totalization.htm

Short version is that under the Mexico/US agreement citizens employed by companies in one country working in the other country do not have to pay into both pension systems at the same time. If a citizen working under these circumstances pays into the other country’s system a minimum of one qualified quarter, they can collect that much from that country’s pension system and it applies to the total required quarters to qualify. To collect anything from either system the citizen must pay in the total number of quarters required by either system, ie 40 quarters total for the US social security system. Those 40 quarters could be a combination of Mexican and US contributions. In either case the citizen would be working legally in the foreign country and they will collect from each system only what they pay into it.

The Immigration Reform act of 2006 made it possible for foreign citizens who worked in the United States illegally and who paid into the social security system to retrieve those funds once they became naturalized citizens. The Ensign amendment would have stripped that provision from the act and was defeated 50-49 in the Senate. Senator John McCain was an outspoken critic of the Ensign amendment. So, if an illegal alien paid into the SS system for 20 qualified quarters and then became a citizen they would only have to pay in an additional 20 quarters to qualify for and receive benefits based on all 40 quarters. Please note that they must be legal citizens of the United States to receive benefits and they must meet all requirements of the system just like everyone else. The act only allows them to retrieve their own money paid into SS after they meet all the other requirements. Agree with the policy or not, no illegal alien can receive benefits.

A case might be made that illegal aliens should be able to get to the SS they have paid in. Areas with high concentrations of illegals pay huge amounts into social services without reimbursement. Hospitals, law enforcement and education all carry a heavy burden. Illegals pay between $50 and $70 billion a year into SS, which can’t be used to offset their costs to the community. It will eventually dissolve into the SS fund and be paid to us baby boomers. http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/37/10128

Other sources:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/socialsecurity.asp

http://www.factcheck.org/article447.html