Social Security payments to new immigrants
I'm trying to confirm something that was mentioned to me.... I can't beleive it .... but it's so far fetched that it must be true.
Can someone tell me if this is right:
An immigrant is allowed to collect social security as soon as they
come to this country if they qualify? SS is not just retirement benefits.
For example: A (legal) immigrant family moves here and brings their parents who are elderly. This family can apply for and receive $ to take
care of the parents and possibly the kids. So just move here and we'll give you $$. Is this true?
social security to new immigrants
:) Funny you should ask. I just got a letter last week from the White House on the subject. "United States law permits non-American citizens who are lawfully in the United States to qualify for Social Security benefits based on credits earned while working in the United States. However, Social Security benefits cannot be paid to a person who is illegally residing in the United States at the time." "A totalization agreement would not change this provision of the law."
:? Notice - "illegally residing in the United States at the time." Kind of left 'hanging' there, isnt it? Why cant people just say what they mean, and quit spinning it all over the place? :x
Social Security 'Totalization'
Rather long, but for anyone not familiar with the Totalization agreement signed with Mexico, this is a must read!
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/back904.html
Social Security 'Totalization'
Examining a Lopsided Agreement with Mexico
September 2004
By Marti Dinerstein
Download the .pdf version
Read the panel discussion transcript
________________________________________
Executive Summary
Since the late 1970s, the United States has entered into a series of bilateral “totalization� agreements that coordinate the U.S. Social Security program with the comparable programs of other countries. To date, 20 such agreements are in force. They have been financially beneficial to U.S. workers and their employers and the associated social security payments to foreign nationals have been reasonable. As such, totalization agreements have been non-controversial. Congress has never voted to disapprove one.
But the proposed totalization agreement with Mexico is profoundly different from prior agreements in four important ways:
1. One-sided. Unlike the 20 existing agreements, a totalization agreement with Mexico would be one-sided. Its beneficial effects to U.S. workers would be miniscule compared to those received by potentially millions of Mexicans. It is expected that the totalization agreement with Mexico would:
• Provide only modest tax savings for American workers and their employers compared to other totalization agreements.
• Entice Mexicans to remain in the United States for the 10 years it takes to vest for U.S. Social Security (versus 24 in Mexico) in order to maximize their retirement income. The United States pays out far more to low-wage workers than they contribute to the system. In contrast, Mexico only pays out what was contributed, plus accrued interest.
• Permit Mexicans to return home and have their spouses and dependents receive U.S. Social Security benefits they would not have been entitled to without a totalization agreement.
• Permit partial Social Security benefits to be paid to those who worked in the United States as little as 18 months (six quarters).
• Eventually compel the United States to pay out billions in retirement benefits to Mexicans for credits they acquired while using fraudulent Social Security numbers prior to obtaining legal status.
• Lure even more Mexicans into the United States illegally in the hopes they would obtain amnesty, thereby making themselves and their families eligible to receive U.S. Social Security benefits once the worker returned to Mexico and reached retirement age.
2. Perversion of original concept. The anticipated totalization agreement with Mexico is a perversion of prior agreements, calling into question the appropriateness of such a pact. The norm in existing bilateral totalization agreements assumes employees of corporations are asked by their employers to transfer to the other country for a specified period of time. Employees and employers in both countries have been contributing to their respective social security systems. The dual objectives of existing totalization agreements were to secure tax savings for the employees and employers of both nations by eliminating double taxation and to guarantee an old age pension to those who contributed to both social security systems by “totalizing� the years worked in both countries. Employees legally enter the partner nation with documents verifying they are authorized to work. Virtually all of the existing 20 totalization agreements are with developed nations whose social security retirement benefits are at parity with those in the United States, providing no incentive to stay and vest for U.S. social security.
In contrast, most Mexican workers entered the United States illegally, were not affiliated with a corporation, previously lived in poverty, and paid no social security taxes in Mexico. There is no benefit parity for American workers in Mexico as it takes more than twice as long to vest for Mexican social security (24 years vs. 10 years in United States) and the benefits are far less generous than those in the United States.
3. Most Mexicans here illegally. None of the existing totalization countries accounts for even 1 percent of the U.S. illegal population and jointly comprise only 4 percent of the total number of illegals. In contrast, over half of the Mexicans living in the United States are illegal aliens. The size of the illegal population from Mexico more than doubled in the last decade and now accounts for 69 percent of the U.S. illegal population. To adopt a totalization agreement with Mexico would put the United States in the ludicrous position of offering Social Security benefits to potentially millions of Mexican workers who showed contempt for our laws by illegally crossing our border and by fraudulently obtaining the Social Security numbers (SSNs) needed to qualify for old age and disability benefits.
4. Huge costs. It is extremely difficult to estimate the potential long-term drain of a Mexican totalization agreement on the U.S. Social Security trust fund, but it has the potential to dwarf all the other agreements combined. Serious questions have been raised about the assumptions made by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the rigor of its analysis. Inexplicably, SSA projected its estimates based on the totalization experience with Canada. The estimated number of Canadians living in the United States is 820,000 (vs. 9.2 million Mexicans). Given the fact that a totalization agreement would cover not just Mexican workers but also their spouses and dependents, it is highly likely that over time, potentially millions of people would receive U.S. Social Security benefits and the cost would be in the billions of dollars.
________________________________________
In testimony to Congress, the Commissioner of Social Security defined the dual purpose of
totalization agreements:
• Eliminate double Social Security taxation of citizens of one country who are sent by their employer to temporarily work in another country.
• Protect the benefits of workers who pay into the social security systems of two countries but do not earn sufficient credits to receive full benefits from one or both countries. Workers are deemed eligible for pro-rated benefits based on the amount of contributions made to the system of each country.1
Goals not applicable to Mexico. Neither of these stated purposes generally apply when speaking about Mexico. Only a tiny fraction of the 9.2 million Mexicans living in the United States were sent by a Mexican employer. Most workers independently migrate to the United States in search of a better life. Most enter the country illegally and, if their status is “adjusted� (because of an amnesty, marriage to an American citizen, etc.), they may sponsor family members in Mexico to join them.
Few ever paid into the Mexican social security system prior to arriving in the United States. Many lived in poor rural areas where jobs are scarce. They were part of Mexico’s vast “informal� (off-the-books) economy.
In this regard, Mexican workers stand in sharp contrast to those from the 20 existing totalization countries. In those countriesâ€â€