Social Security benefits to legal and illegal Mexican immigrants?-Truth!

Proposed Agreements between the U.S. and Mexico Would Provide U.S. Social Security Benefits To Hundreds of Thousands of Mexicans-Truth!

Summary of the eRumor
The email says that a "totalization" agreement between the U.S. and Mexico would grant Social Security benefits to Mexicans, including some who are here illegally, even if they didn't work in the U.S. long enough to qualify for Social Security benefits.

The Truth
According to the Social Security Administration, the U.S. has similar totalization agreements with other countries including Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada Norway, and the United Kingdom.

Critics are hopping mad about a totalization agreement with Mexico. They say it will cost upwards to one billion dollars to provide Social Security benefits to Mexicans who will qualify. They say that at a time when the Social Security system is such a focus of concern, it's not time to grant such benefits to such a large group of foreigners.

Supporters say totalization benefits large numbers of Americans too, not just foreigners in the U.S.. One of the problems, according to the Social Security Administration, is that Americans, for example, who have worked in both the U.S. and a foreign country may end up being double taxed for retirement benefits. Additionally, there are some workers who have worked, for example, for a period of time in the United States then worked for a period of time in a foreign country, but failed to qualify for benefits in either country. The totalization agreements allow both U.S. and foreign workers to qualify for benefits based on the combined coverage of both countries.. According to the Washington Post, there is an estimated 37,000 Mexicans who worked legally in the United States and paid into Social Security but have not been able to collect their checks. One of the controversies of totalization is that it may include thousands of foreign workers who were in the U.S. illegally but did pay into Social Security. Immigration reform in 1996 cut their benefits.

Updated 1/21/03

Germany, Switzerland,

Belgium, Canada, Norway, and the United Kingdom

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:

A fond Hello to all:

I could hardly believe what I was reading when I reviewed the piece below.
How damned stupid can our politicians get (please don't answer, that was a rhetorical question)?
If, like me, you are sick and tired of Washington taking our money and squandering it on dumb programs like this one, stand up and be counted.
Write & call your elected representatives and OBJECT! Contact all your friends and suggest they join in.
This CONSERVATIVE ALERT ISSUE: As Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) puts it, "dark clouds are gathering over our already dangerously fragile Social Security system."
In December, the press reported on a looming deal between the United States and the government of Mexico which would make hundreds of thousands of Mexican citizens eligible for U.S. Social Security benefits. The centerpiece of the agreement would be a so-called
"totalization," which would mean that even if a Mexican citizen did not work in the United States long enough to qualify for Social Security, the number of years worked in Mexico would be added to bring up the total and thus make the Mexican worker eligible for cash transfers from the United States.
Worse still, thousands of foreigners who would qualify for U.S. Social Security benefits actually came to the United States and worked here illegally. Under "totalization," a foreigner who came to the United States illegally could work fewer than the required number of years,
return to Mexico for the rest of his working years, and collect full U.S. Social Security benefits while living in Mexico. That is an insult to the millions of Americans who pay their entire working lives into the system and now face the possibility that there may be nothing left
when it is their turn to retire.
"The proposed agreement is nothing more than a financial reward to those who have willingly and knowingly violated our own immigration laws," says Rep. Paul. "Talk about an incentive for illegal immigration! How many more would break the law to come to this country if promised U.S. government paychecks for life? Is creating a global welfare state on the
back of the American taxpayer a good idea? The program also establishes a very disturbing precedent of U.S. foreign aid to individual citizens rather than to states."
Estimates of what this deal with the Mexican government would cost top one billion dollars per year. As the system braces for a steep increase in those who will be drawing from the Social Security trust fund, it makes no sense to expand it into a global welfare system. Social
Security was designed to provide support for retired American citizens who worked in the United States. We should be shoring up the system for those Americans who have paid in for decades, not expanding it to cover foreigners who have not.
Supporters of the Social Security to Mexico deal may attempt to downplay the effect the agreement would have on the system, but actions speak louder than words: According to several press reports, the State Department and the Social Security Administration are already negotiating to build a new building in Mexico City to handle the expected rush of applicants for this new program!
ACTION ITEM: Social Security should be limited to United States citizens and nationals who have paid into the system. It should not be a global giveaway. In the 107th Congress, Rep. Paul introduced the "Social Security Preservation Act" (H.R. 219), which would ensure that all money in the Social Security trust fund is spent solely on Social Security.
As Congress continues to demonstrate an inability to control spending that threatens the Social Security trust fund, the need for this legislation has never been greater. So, Rep. Paul intends to re-introduce this legislation in the new 108th Congress.
Go to our site below now to send a FREE editable pre-written message to your Representative, asking that he or she support the "Social Security Preservation Act" this session:
http://www.conservativealerts.com/011603.htm
NOTE: Be sure to forward this e-mail to everyone you know that wants to help STOP this "great global social security giveaway."
Thank you!