KING AUTHORS BILL TO SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY
BENEFITS
FOR OLDER AMERICANS FROM BEING PAID TO
ILLEGAL ALIENS
WASHINGTON
- U.S. Congressman Steve King (IA-05) today
introduced a bill to protect Social Security
payments for older Americans from being paid
to illegal aliens.
The bill would
block an agreement between the United States
and Mexico that would allow Social Security
benefits to be paid to illegal aliens. The
2004 agreement, not yet in effect, allows
Social Security benefits to be paid to
non-citizens who are also eligible to
receive social security benefits in their
own country. The agreement would permit
illegal aliens to receive U.S. Social
Security benefits for the work they do in
the United States.
"The American
taxpayer should not be forced to take on the
financial burden of people who have entered
the country illegally," said King. "This is
only one example of the way this country
works against itself by offering incentives
for breaking our laws."
The federal
government does not track the amount of
Social Security benefits paid to illegal
aliens. However, the Social Security
Administration has estimated that such an
agreement with Mexico would cost the U.S.
Social Security system $525 million over the
next five years and would cost $650 million
per year by 2050.
"Social
Security is a sacred trust with our seniors
that must not be weakened, and that
obligation should not be jeopardized by
allowing illegal aliens to receive the
benefits rightly bestowed on legal residents
of the United States," added King.
