We polled thousands of Americans. SSI benefits come from Americans who have paid into it through long years of hard work. And, while Americans are happy to help those who help themselves, poll results show that they would prefer those benefits go to other Americans who have earned them or who suffer from a disability.

One of the most common arguments is that illegals by default cannot get SSI, because they are illegal aliens and don’t have the social security numbers needed to claim SSI to begin with. We wish it was that easy.

Anyone working in the US needs authorization to do so. In the US a Social Security Number (SSN) is a work authorization. However, an SSN is for American citizens only. Illegal aliens get a Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), which looks just like an SSN, but states clearly that it isn’t to be used for the purposed of employment.

This is a fairly recent law that most Americans don’t know about, and one which will go far to prevent some of the SSI exploitation we see today. This is the law that prevents anyone not authorized to work within the US from 2004 on from claiming Social Security benefits. Basically, anyone who worked in the US — even illegally — before 2004 can still claim SSI benefits.

Another issue is sponsorship. Those who come here with a sponsor can file for Social Security benefits based on the status of their sponsor. It’s the sponsor’s income and not their own which is used to determine the amount and eligibility for SSI benefits. That means people who come here late in life could get SSI without ever having worked in America. It also means that children who were made naturalized citizens because they were born on American soil can become the sponsor of their parents. Those parent may then file for SSI benefits using their grown children as sponsors.

93% of Americans DO NOT think illegal immigrants should get Social Security benefits.
7% of Americans DO think illegal immigrants should get Social Security benefits.

So far, 93% of Americans polled do NOT think illegal immigrants should be eligible for Social Security Benefits. Just 7% of Americans are willing to share their Social Security with those who come into America illegally.