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Alarm bell rung over U.S.-Mexico benefits pact

Web Posted: 01/04/2007 12:05 AM CST

Hernán Rozemberg
Express-News Immigration Writer

An unratified U.S.-Mexico accord meant to make it easier for each country's workers abroad to receive retirement benefits is a pathway to reward undocumented immigrants who will drain U.S. Social Security coffers, says a senior citizens group that obtained a copy of the document.

More than three years after suing the Social Security Administration and State Department for failing to make the "totalization agreement" public, the TREA Senior Citizens League was provided a copy Wednesday.

The nonpartisan group, based in Washington and which claims 1.2 million members, said the agreement provides more questions than answers in determining if and how undocumented workers would be entitled to file for benefits.

The accord lacks specific language clearly delineating that such workers would be barred from applying for benefits, and it should concern anyone on Social Security that billions of dollars could be going to millions of people who worked illegally, said Shannon Benton, executive director of the senior league.

Mark Lassiter, the SSA spokesman who was granted authority to speak for the White House on the matter, said the group's allegations are false.

He said the agreements tackle taxation, not immigration issues, and that current laws forbid people from collecting benefits if they don't have a valid Social Security number.

But those laws leave loopholes that could cost at least $10 billion in benefits, the senior league countered. The SSA estimated the program would cost $105 million for each of the first five years of implementation.

"We finally got the document, but instead of obtaining answers, now we have more questions," Benton said.

The government maintains there's nothing hidden about the agreement. Lassiter said it took a long time for the document to be provided because totalization agreements previously never have been made public before receiving ratification.

The lawsuit is ongoing, as the senior league still is seeking related documents.

Though the SSA director and her Mexican counterpart signed the accord in June 2004, each country's executive also has to sign it and then it must receive congressional approval.

But the process barely has moved past the initial handshake because the U.S. is awaiting clarification from Mexico on certain questions, such as status on eligibility requirements, Lassiter said.

Rafael Laveaga, a spokesman with the Mexican Embassy in Washington, declined comment.

The United States has ratified similar agreements with 21 countries. They essentially prevent workers from having to pay into two social security systems and provide eligibility to others who wouldn't otherwise qualify to receive benefits.

The U.S.-Mexico treaty would allow Mexican workers to begin applying for Social Security after having worked here a year and a half. The maximum period covered is five years of employment because the workers are assumed to be in the country temporarily.

But the document is based on existing benefits laws that provide loopholes for unauthorized migrants to collect benefits, and that sends the wrong message, according to the senior league.

"Are we going to reward people who are here illegally, who violated our laws?" asked George Smith, 76, chairman of the senior league's board of directors through last year, who retired in San Antonio.

The matter is far from settled, given that many obstacles — on both sides of the border — still stand in the way of the agreement being enacted.

On the U.S. side, it still needs State Department approval and, assuming the president signs it, Congress has two months to approve or kill it.
hrozemberg@express-news.net