Should Unauthorized Immigrants Be Banned From Receiving Social Security Benefits? (H.R. 1996)

What is H.R. 1996?

(Updated July 28, 2020)

This bill would block unauthorized immigrants who have been made eligible through a presidential executive order from receiving Social Security numbers or benefits.

It would prevent the Social Security Administration from issuing Social Security numbers to those made eligible by the executive order. Benefits through Social Security would also be revoked.

If an unauthorized immigrant has earned benefits through work, and are eligible to collect thanks to the executive order, this bill would ensure that they would be denied a credit for those benefits. 

Argument in favor

Social Security is already on the road to bankruptcy, and allowing people who have come here illegally to be eligible to receive benefits will only worsen its financial condition.

Argument opposed

Many unauthorized immigrants pay into Social Security through payroll taxes. Now, more than ever with the executive action, they should receive the benefits they’re paying into.

Impact

Unauthorized immigrants made eligible for Social Security numbers and benefits by the President’s executive order, the Social Security Administration, taxpayers.

Cost of H.R. 1996

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth:

Social Security was created in 1935 to help financially protect the elderly who were no longer able to work. But as America’s population ages, the generational demographic shift has threatened its viability.

The Social Security trustees’ 2014 report found that the Social Security and Disability Insurance Trust Fund will be able to pay its debts until 2034. As a whole, the program’s unfunded liabilities increased to $13.4 trillion, and the Disability Insurance Trust Fund will only be solvent until 2016.

In 1950, when Social Security had only been in existence a short time, there were over 15 workers for every retiree receiving benefits. Currently there’s less than three workers supporting each retiree and the decline is expected to continue, coinciding with Social Security’s insolvency. These numbers matter because Social Security benefits aren’t saved in some account earmarked for each beneficiary. Rather, they are dispensed every year from payroll tax revenue.

There are about eight million unauthorized immigrants working in the U.S., and nearly 40% of those workers pay Social Security taxes contributing about $12 billion in revenue. The President’s executive orders on immigration were structured to allow some of these workers to acquire work permits and Social Security numbers. As these workers eventually collect benefits, proponents of this bill contend that it could weaken the program’s finances in the long-term despite a short-term improvement in tax revenue.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX) Press Release
• The Daily Beast
• Huffington Post
• Social Security Administration - 2014 Report