U.S., Mexico finalize Social Security pact
By Sergio Bustos, Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON — U.S. and Mexican officials signed a controversial agreement this week that could allow millions of legal and undocumented Mexican immigrants who work in the United States to collect U.S. Social Security benefits.
Congress and the Mexican Senate still must approve the agreement, but U.S. lawmakers have routinely approved similar "totalization" agreements with 20 other countries in the past.
Under the agreement, Mexican workers who have divided their working lives between the United States and Mexico would be eligible for partial U.S. or Mexican retirement benefits based on combined credits earned from both countries. U.S. citizens working in Mexico also would qualify for partial benefits in both countries.
To qualify for U.S. Social Security benefits, Mexicans must prove they have worked in the United States at least 18 months. Payments are made on a prorated basis, depending on years worked in the United States.
Social Security Administration officials estimate 50,000 U.S. and Mexican workers may be eligible for such retirement benefits during the first five years of the agreement.
But last year, the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, questioned the accuracy of those projections, saying Social Security officials had failed to account for the presence of many potentially eligible, undocumented Mexican immigrants and their families.
Census figures show the United States is home to 9 million Mexican citizens. About 5 million are here illegally, according to federal estimates.
Critics charge that the agreement could allow tens of thousands of undocumented Mexican immigrants to collect U.S. retirement benefits.
"Until we straighten out the mess in our immigration system — not to mention our Social Security system — these sorts of agreements are premature and fiscally irresponsible," said Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that advocates stricter immigration policies.
Social Security officials counter that undocumented immigrants are not eligible for U.S. Social Security benefits.
"A totalization agreement doesn't change our immigration laws," said Carolyn Cheezum, a spokeswoman with the Social Security Administration.
But Cheezum acknowledged that undocumented immigrants who become legalized residents could receive credit for prior earnings so long as they prove they paid into the U.S. system.
Social Security officials said the U.S.-Mexico totalization agreement, if approved, also would affect about 3,000 U.S. workers employed in Mexico. They said those workers and their employers would save about $140 million during the first five years of the agreement.
Under current law, U.S. citizens and their U.S. employers in Mexico must pay Social Security taxes to both counties. The same goes for Mexican citizens and Mexican employers in the United States.
The agreement would eliminate the "double tax" and require employees and employers to contribute to only one country's Social Security system.
U.S. and Mexican officials have been negotiating a totalization agreement for more than a year. The United States began pursuing such agreements in 1977 so Americans sent abroad by their employers would be eligible for U.S. Social Security benefits. Today, the United States has pacts with 20 countries, mostly in Europe.