Social Security is in jeopardy this year.  The Congressional Budget Office is projecting that the Social Security Trust Fund will run short of the cash revenues needed to pay benefits.  The shortfall will add to the exploding federal deficit, and President Obama has promised that work will begin on Social Security reform soon.  The situation raises plenty of questions about the extent of tax increases and benefit cuts that would be required to bring the system back into balance.

The White House is also planning to begin work on immigration reform and the contentious issue of “providing a path to citizenship” for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants residing in this country.  Waiting in the wings is a highly controversial U.S. Social Security Totalization Agreement with Mexico.  The agreement, which has not yet been approved, is pending review by the President and Congress.  TSCL believes that if put into effect as it currently stands, it would drain funds away from Social Security needed for the benefits of U.S. senior citizens.

Sign our petition to protest the U.S. Social Security Totalization Agreement with Mexico today!

A critical issue is whether millions of Mexican immigrants who work in this country without legal work authorization, and their family dependents, would become eligible for U.S. Social Security benefits under the agreement.  The agreement appears ambiguous on this issue, and TSCL has filed four Freedom of Information Act requests in order to obtain copies of estimates of the cost to Social Security.  After receiving the first known copy of the agreement in December of 2006, which apparently had never been made public, even to Members of Congress, virtually nothing further has been learned. 

Although current U.S. law forbids the payment of Social Security benefits to illegal immigrants, there are loopholes and exceptions.  Of particular importance is an exception that applies to immigrants receiving benefits living in a country with which the U.S. has a totalization agreement.  It appears that under the U.S./Mexico Totalization Agreement, all that any illegal Mexican worker must do to qualify for benefits is return to Mexico.  Once a claim has been filed, the U.S. Social Security system counts all earnings, even for jobs worked without legal authorization, to determine entitlement to benefits.

TSCL believes Congress must ensure much stronger protections of Social Security in order to prevent the payment of benefits to immigrants based on illegal earnings.  In addition, TSCL urges President Obama to decline to submit the treaty to Congress.  TSCL supports two bills in the Senate to address totalization:  S. 42 introduced by Senator John Ensign, and S. 115 introduced by Senator David Vitter.  TSCL also supports two bills in the House:  H.Res. 394 introduced by U.S. Representative John Culberson, and H.R. 160 introduced by U.S.

Representative Ron Paul.  H.Res. 394 expresses disapproval of the Social Security totalization agreement between the U.S. and Mexico and would block it from taking effect, and the related measure, H.R. 160, The Social Security for Americans Only Act, would not allow self- employed income and wages earned while illegal to be credited for claiming benefits.

Sources:  “Status of Totalization Agreements,” Social Security Administration, October 22, 2009.  “Social Security Benefits for Noncitizens,” Congressional Research Service, July 20, 2006.  TSCL Petition In Opposition to United States-Mexico Totalization Agreement, TSCL, December 17, 2008.