H.R. 736 Dana Rohrabacher (CA) "No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act of 2007"

TSCL's efforts to publicize the cost of Social Security benefits based on illegal work, as well as a related totalization agreement with Mexico, are making some Members of Congress think twice about the impact of illegal immigration on Social Security.  Senator Arlen Specter (PA) was recently reported in USA TODAY as saying that immigration has replaced Social Security as the "third rail" of politics — an issue so incendiary most politicians are afraid to touch it.

A new estimate released by TSCL found that a loophole in current law would allow 2 million aliens to claim full Social Security benefits based on illegal work.  By 2040 the government would pay out more than $966 billion in Social Security.  USA TODAY reported "Shannon Benton of the Senior Citizens League, a group representing retirees, told a House of Representatives subcommittee last week that the bill ‘will result in significant damage to the already strained Social Security Trust Fund.'"

TSCL's $966 billion cost estimate is based on Social Security numbers (SSNs) issued to aliens prior to January 1, 2004.  Current law requires only aliens who receive Social Security numbers issued on January 1, 2004 or thereafter to have legal work authorization at some point in order to file a claim for benefits.  Aliens who received SSNs prior to January 1, 2004 and who worked illegally using those numbers can file a claim for benefits without ever having received legal work authorization.  In other words, they may claim benefits based entirely on illegal work.

Prior to January 1, 2004, the Social Security Administration issued 7 million SSNs that bear the inscription "NOT VALID FOR EMPLOYMENT."  Individuals who received such numbers were found to have a valid reason to have an SSN (for example they may have been eligible for public benefits), but those SSNs were not authorized for work in this country.

Nevertheless, the numbers have been widely abused and last year the Social Security Administration's Inspector General, in a little-noticed audit, said that the largest employer of those non-work SSN illegal workers are federal and state government agencies.  TSCL first reported this information in the November/December 2006 issue of The Social Security and Medicare Advisor article,"Failure to Enforce Immigration Laws Affects Your Benefits" http://www.tscl.org/NewContent/102774.asp.  When CNN's Lou Dobbs learned about the Inspector General's audit from Representative Steve King (IA), Shannon Benton was invited to appear on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight."

Legalization of illegal immigrants appears to have proven too hot for Congress to handle for the moment, but the problem of aliens receiving Social Security benefits based on illegal work continues under current law.  TSCL is calling on Congress to close the loophole, and endorses the "No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act of 2007" (H.R. 736), introduced by Representative Dana Rohrabacher (CA).  The legislation would close the loophole by excluding earnings of any wages for unauthorized work. 

Sources: "Social Security, Immigration Entwined In Debate," Kathy Kiely, USA TODAY, June 27, 2007.  "Employers With The Most Wage Items In The Non-Work Alien File," SSA Office Of The Inspector General, June 2006, A-08-05-15138.  "Shannon Benton On CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight," CNN, June 28, 2007.

ANOTHER GREAT POST Sovereignman! What is the status of this bill and is this one we need to pay close attention to after labor day? If so...I am ready to make calls, phone and fax my brains out to my Rep for this H.R. 736 bill...I am confident Jim Jordan of Ohio will support this as he has been a vocal ally for WE THE PEOPLE with regard to the illegal situation.

You are hot stuff today Sovereign Man! GREAT WORK!

 

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Thanks msbobbie! Great link....

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If this is supposed to be a "good" bill, I don't see Duncan Hunter or Tom Tancredo on the list of co-sponsors. Ron Paul doesn't seem to be on the list either.

Thank you for all of this information SM and msbobbie.  I don't see my represenative's name either.  I wonder when the subcommittee on Social Security will meet on this, or if they already have?  The latest action on this seems long ago.

Remember, Rohrabacher went to the mat for Ramos and Compean more than any other Congressman. Any bill he introduces should be examined carefully before dismissing because he is out of a similar mold as Tancredo and Hunter. As I have written on these forums before, Rohrabacher is a good guy and thinks like one of us.

Truth said: If this is supposed to be a "good" bill, I don't see Duncan Hunter or Tom Tancredo on the list of co-sponsors. Ron Paul doesn't seem to be on the list either.

If anything, Dana Rohrabacher is better on illegal immigration than Hunter and Tancredo.

 Rohrabacher's immigration scorecard in fighting immigration  from numbersUSA is an A: http://grades.betterimmigration.com/testgrades.php3?District=CA46&VIPID=124

 

I wondered about the candidates not being on the bill too.  I am not surprised about Ron Paul not being there.  His issue is the Federal Reserve.  Immigration and all that goes with it are second thoughts to Ron Paul. 

This issue is addressed in Tom Tancredo's O.V.E.R.D.U.E. bill.  It has not been assigned a bill number yet.

 

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msbobbie said:

I wondered about the candidates not being on the bill too.  I am not surprised about Ron Paul not being there.  His issue is the Federal Reserve.  Immigration and all that goes with it are second thoughts to Ron Paul. 

This issue is addressed in Tom Tancredo's O.V.E.R.D.U.E. bill.  It has not been assigned a bill number yet.

 

 

Is it too late for Tom to add his name to the list of co-sponsors? Maybe you could email him and give him a "heads up" that WE THE PEOPLE have taken note of who is sponsoring this great bill and who is NOT. It could help his poll numbers and he is already vocal about doing the right thing with regard to our illegal situation. Couldn't hurt!

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