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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Feds Hide Social Security Deal With Mexico Feds Hide Social Security Deal With Mexico Dave Eberhart, http://NewsMax.com Monday, July 3, 2006 WASHINGTON -- "We might be on the cusp of giving billions of dollars worth of our senior's Social Security money to illegal Mexican workers, and it's getting almost no media attention whatsoever," warned Brad Phillips, a spokesman for TREA Senior Citizens League, one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups with 1.2 million members. TREA Senior Citizens League filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit in U.S. District Court Thursday morning - after what the group styled as "numerous refusals over three years by the U.S. Department of State and Social Security Administration to provide a draft of - or virtually any pertinent information regarding - the impact of the Totalization Agreement with Mexico on the U.S. Social Security Trust Fund." The Totalization Agreement could allow millions of illegal Mexican workers to draw billions of dollars from the U.S. Social Security Trust Fund. The agreement between the U.S. and Mexico was signed in June 2004, and is awaiting President Bush's signature. "President Bush has expressed his support for this Agreement, and we believe that regardless of the current immigration debate, his most likely window for signing it is immediately after the 2006 midterm elections when no one is looking," TREA spokesman Brad Phillips told NewsMax. Once President Bush approves the agreement, which would be done without congressional vote, either house would have 60 days to disapprove the agreement by voting to reject it. "We are outraged that our government won't tell us how much they plan to take out of the Social Security Trust Fund to pay for the Totalization Agreement with Mexico, and we want to know what they're hiding," said Ralph McCutchen, Chairman of the TREA Senior Citizens League. "Our 1.2 million elderly members didn't play by the rules and sacrifice through two World Wars so we could fund millions of workers who crossed the border and decided to work here illegally," McCutchen added. Under the Totalization Agreement, millions of illegal Mexicans working in the United States today could claim benefits from the Social Security Trust Fund for work performed while in the United States illegally. They could do so through immigration amnesty, through which they could claim past Social Security payments for illegal work. They could also potentially return to Mexico and claim credits for illegal work in the U.S., or claim payments through other as yet undisclosed methods. The U.S. currently has 21 similar agreements in effect with other nations, which are intended to eliminate dual taxation for persons who work outside their country of origin. All of the agreements are with developed nations with economies similar to that of the U.S. For example, a worker who turns 62 after 1990 generally needs 40 calendar quarters of coverage to receive retirement benefits. Under Totalization agreements, a partial benefit can be paid based on the proportion of the worker's total career completed in the paying country. The agreements allow the Social Security Administration to "totalize" U.S. and foreign credits if the worker has just six quarters, or 18 months, of U.S. coverage. But, according to TREA, Mexico's retirement system is radically different - since only 40 percent of non-government workers participate, as opposed to 96 percent of America's workers. In addition, the U.S. system is progressive, meaning lower wage earners get back much more than they put in. Contrast Mexico, where workers get back only what they put in, plus accrued interest. "The Social Security Trust Fund should be for Americans in their retirement years. I vigorously oppose a Totalization Agreement with Mexico, which would allow millions of illegal Mexicans to access those funds," said Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va. "The Social Security Administration and State Department should provide TREA Senior Citizens League with the information they are requesting on behalf of seniors. I support a resolution to disapprove Totalization with Mexico if and when the President signs off on this bad deal," Goode added. According to TREA, the original FOIA request, filed in August 2003, as well as all subsequent requests, demanded a copy of the actual agreement, as well as other relevant documents, including those showing the financial impact the Totalization Agreement with Mexico would have on the U.S. Social Security Trust Fund and on America's senior citizens. Despite numerous attempts to ascertain such information, the State Department and Social Security Administration steadfastly refused to provide virtually any relevant documents, explained TREA Senior Citizens League spokesperson Brad Phillips. "Any Social Security exchange with Mexico will cost Americans a king's ransom," said Marti Dinerstein, Fellow with the independent, nonpartisan Center for Immigration Studies. "We should apologize to Mexico for leading them on and get out of this terrible deal." The Social Security Administration's Office of the Chief Actuary has estimated that a totalization agreement with Mexico would cost the U.S. $78 million in the first year, growing to $650 million (in constant 2002 dollars) by 2050. That determination, however, assumed that the initial number of newly eligible Mexican recipients would be equal to the 50,000 beneficiaries then living in Mexico, and that the eligible number would grow to only 300,000 over the next 48 years. The Government Accountability Office has opined that the SSA is too conservative in its projections of costs. "[T]his proxy figure does not directly consider the estimated millions of current and former unauthorized workers and family members from Mexico and appears small in comparison with those estimates," determined the watchdog agency. According to the Social Security Administration, the Social Security Trust Fund will begin paying out more than it is taking in by 2017, and will be exhausted by the year 2040. TREA Senior Citizens League says its general mission is "to promote and assist members and supporters, to educate and alert senior citizens about their rights and freedoms as U.S. Citizens, and to protect and defend the benefits senior citizens have earned and paid for." AARP spokesperson, Nancy Thompson, told NewsMax her organization "has no position" on the social security totalization treaty with Mexico.
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"President Bush has expressed his support for this Agreement, and we believe that regardless of the current immigration debate, his most likely window for signing it is immediately after the 2006 midterm elections when no one is looking," TREA spokesman Brad Phillips told NewsMax.
I fear that anyone "counting on" social security for their retirement income may find themselves in a world of fiscal hurt.
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