TSCL Releases New $2.6 Trillion Estimate
Presidential candidates and Congress are continuing to debate immigration reform that would provide work authorization and Social Security numbers to millions of immigrants currently working in this country illegally. Recently The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) released a new estimate of the potential cost to Social Security. The estimate projected that 5 million of today’s illegals and their dependents potentially could claim more than $2.6 trillion in Social Security benefits by 2041— a substantial portion of which is based on illegal work — unless Congress acts to ban Social Security credit for those illegal earnings.

The estimate uses data cited in a recent report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Although there are no reliable data on the rate of compliance with tax and employment laws, the CBO said “SSA assumes that wages are reported and payroll taxes withheld for about half of all unauthorized immigrants.â€