Elites Push Social Security Benefits for Illegals

merican political elites are working to provide millions of Mexicans in the U.S. with taxpayer-funded Social Security benefits. Gannett News Service confirmed last month that U.S. officials are negotiating an agreement with Mexico that would permit immigrants returning home, inlcuding illegals, to collect Social Security retirement checks from America.

"Talk about an incentive for illegal immigration," said an exasperated Texas Rep. Ron Paul, one of the few Republicans in Congress concerned about illegal aliens. "How many more would break the law to come to this country if promised U.S. government paychecks for life?" he asked.

The Bush administration is pushing for what is called a "totalization" agreement with Mexico to improve relations with the regime of Vicente Fox in Mexico City, and to win the hearts of Hispanic voters in the U.S.

Since 1977 the U.S. has signed similar agreements with European governments. Under totalization, foreigners working in the U.S. pay into Social Security and ultimately receive Social Security benefits after they go home, while Americans working in those countries pay for and receive foreign retirement benefits.

Powerful left-wing Hispanic advocacy groups back the administration's plans. Katherine Culliton, an attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) in Washington, D.C., said the agreement for U.S. taxpayers to support retired Mexicans is a matter of fairness.

"Let's be honest. There are millions of Mexican immigrants contributing to the Social Security system and the U.S. economy," she said. "It's only fair they get back a benefit they deserve that will keep them from dying in poverty."

Under current totalization agreements, the U.S. paid out $173 million in Social Security benefits to roughly 89,000 foreigners living in their native countries. But in an agreement with Mexico, the U.S. would pay astronomical amounts in Social Security benefits because millions of Mexican nationals live and work in the U.S., including as many as 8 million to 11 million illegal aliens.

Under the Social Security Act, illegal aliens are eligible to collect benefits if the U.S. and the illegals' home country have a totalization agreement, according to Gannett. They merely need to prove that they have paid into the system. In addition, the General Accounting Office says that former illegals who later become legal U.S. residents would also be eligible.

GAO found that a Mexican woman who worked illegally in the U.S. for six years with an invalid Social Security number began receiving disability checks. She had petitioned in the 1990's to receive credit for the money paid into the system under the invalid number. The inspector general's report on her case said the Social Security agency does not consider whether an immigrant was in the country legally when paying out benefits.

"[The agency] does not consider the work-authorization status of the individual when they earned the wages," the report said. "It only considers whether the individual can prove he or she paid Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) taxes as part of this work."
In another case reported by Gannett, a Mexican man who used his father's Social Security number for nine years in the 1970's claimed after becoming a legal resident in 1989 that he was owed benefits. The Social Security Administration agreed, and began paying him benefits in 1999.

To qualify for Social Security benefits, Mexicans need only prove they worked in the U.S. for 18 months or more.

"Payments are made on a prorated basis, depending on years worked in the United States," the news service reported. "Those who worked at least 10 years automatically would qualify for full benefits. Those who also worked in Mexico for a specific period of time could collect benefits in their home countries, too."

Maria Blanco, MALDEF's national senior counsel, told the Washington Post that the totalization agreement was being pushed by Mexican President Fox as a substitute agreement for the failure of the Bush administration to deliver on granting amnesty to illegals.

"When the legalization talks began going nowhere, the Mexicans began focusing on this," she said.
The Post reported that an internal memo from the Social Security Administration said the agreement "is expected to move forward at an accelerated pace."

The agreement, which must be approved by Congress, may prove costly for a Social Security system already straining financially.

Steve Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C., said that in light of the number of legal and illegal Mexicans potentially eligible for benefits under the agreement, the total expenditure for U.S. taxpayers will likely surpass $1 billion annually.