Amnestied Illegals Slated To
Receive Social Security

n agreement reached between the Bush administration and the government of Mexico would allow illegal aliens who are granted amnesty to claim credit for the time they worked illegally in the U.S. when applying for Social Security benefits, according to an analysis of the agreement by a nationwide senior citizens organization.

That means the Social Security system, which already faces bankruptcy by 2040, would be obligated to pay out tens of millions of dollars more to applicants.

TREA Senior Citizens League, a non-partisan seniors group in Washington, D.C., obtained a copy of the agreement last month after filing a Feedom of Information lawsuit against the government three years ago.

The deal was reached between the U.S. and Mexico in 2004 but has not yet been signed by President George Bush or submitted to Congress. If the president does sign the agreement, it will become law unless Congress votes against it within 60 days.

"If you open up the trust fund to people who have been working in the country illegally for many years, that bankruptcy date [for the Social Security system] can only come sooner," said Brad Phillips, a spokesman for the seniors league.

Mark Lassiter, a spokesman for the Social Security Administration, said the agreement will not change U.S. law, which bars illegal aliens from collecting retirement benefits. "To get Social Security benefits, you have to be legally in the United States. This agreement does not address in any way immigration, immigration laws, or override current law," Lassiter told the Washington Times. He said the Social Security Protection Act of 2004 prevents illegals from collecting benefits.

But according to the seniors league, the agreement with Mexico permits illegals who are later granted legal status through an amnesty or other act of Congress to claim credit for the work performed illegally once they apply for benefits. The Social Security Protection Act does not prevent anyone who is no longer illegal from collecting benefits.

"If an immigrant gets what's called a valid work-authorized Social Security number at some point, then he or she could eventually file a claim for benefits," said Phillips. "The government would use all earnings to calculate the retirement benefit, even earnings while working illegally."

The agreement with Mexico is one of a number of so-called "totalization" agreements with foreign countries that permit workers to pay into only one country's retirement system in order to later collect benefits. The agreements protect benefits for workers who spend time working in more than one country.

The Government Accountability Office has also raised concerns over the agreement with Mexico.

GAO said that family members of workers covered under the agreement would also become eligible for Social Security benefits, further straining the system. GAO said the costs of the agreement would be much higher than the $105 million first estimated by the Social Security Administration. The agency said no one knows how many Mexican workers would be covered by the agreement, or how many would apply for benefits.

The U.S. retirement system is more generous than Mexico's, creating an incentive for more Mexicans to find work in the U.S., and to apply for benefits. U.S. benefits are distributed progressively, so that lower wage earners get back proportionately more benefits compared to what they pay into the system. Mexico's workers get back only what they pay into the system.

Under the agreement with Mexico, Mexican workers would qualify for benefits with just six quarters - 18 months - of earnings, compared to 40 months for U.S. workers.

"The Social Security Administration itself warns that Social Security is within decades of bankruptcy," said Ralph McCutchen, chairman of TREA Senior Citizens League. "Yet they seem to have no problem making agreements that hasten its demise. Our 1.2 million elderly members didn't play by the rules and sacrifice through difficult times so we could fund millions of workers who crossed the border and decided to work here illegally," he told NewsMax.com.