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Illegal Immigrants and Social Security: A Quirky Situation
It’s kind of a reversal of the oft-repeated mythical allegation that illegal immigrants are receiving Social Security benefits. (This allegation, incidentally, conflates Supplemental Security Income, which is not Social Security and Social Security benefits, and is miscommunicated repeatedly in social media posts and poorly written media accounts.) It’s also a known outcome of illegal immigrants being employed in jobs that incur payroll tax (FICA) via invalid Social Security numbers. Given Social Security’s financial plight, this is a pretty big deal–a $25 billion deal–since these contributions do not translate to eventual benefit payments from the program.
As outlined in a post by NYTimes News Service reporter Tara Siegel Bernard today on hawaiitribune-herald.com, the loss of a revenue piece of this magnitude “could have ripple effects on Social Security.” Efforts to develop a resolution to the rapidly approaching point of Social security insolvency will need to factor in this critical piece of the puzzle. Read Ms. Bernard’s post here…