WASHINGTON — Many immigrants in the U.S. illegally who apply for work permits under President Barack Obama’s executive actions would be eligible for Social Security and Medicare benefits upon reaching retirement age, according to the White House.
Under Obama’s actions, immigrants who are spared deportation could obtain work permits and a Social Security number. As a result, they would pay into the Social Security system through payroll taxes.
No such “lawfully present” immigrant, however, would be immediately entitled to the benefits because, like all Social Security and Medicare recipients, they would have to work 10 years to become eligible for retirement payments and health care.
To remain qualified, either Congress or future administrations would have to extend Obama’s actions.
Stephen Miller, a spokesman for Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a leading Republican opponent of Obama’s executive actions, said making immigrants illegally in the U.S. eligible for Social Security and Medicare “is an attack on working families.”
