Is the Social Security Administration Paying Benefits to Former Illegal Immigrants Now in Mexico?

The Department of Homeland Security has begun an investigation to determine how many people may be illegally receiving Social Security and other government benefits. The Federal Reserve is sending Social Security benefits every month to 26,000 people in Mexico it was announced today, but officials with that agency and the Social Security Administration insist that no benefits are being paid to former illegal immigrants. They also say, however, that they cannot be certain.

On an electronic booklet on the official website of the Social Security Administration, the agency reports that Americans outside of the United States, or American territories, such as Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, or American Samoa, may continue to receive benefits if they are eligible. Once outside of the country for at least 30 days in a row, a person is considered out of the country until he returns and stays in the U.S. for at least 30 days in a row. The booklet also lists countries in which eligible recipients may receive benefits.

The Department of Homeland Security has launched a new task force to investigate a "growing" problem of benefit fraud. The fraud may exist in other departments too, but part of the investigation concerns Social Security.

According to Jean Tate, a spokesman for the Federal Reserve, the government sends benefits payments to 27,000 recipients in Mexico every month through the "Directo a Mexico" service. Of the payments, 26,000 are for Social Security benefits.

Mark Lassiter, of the Social Security Administration, he was unfamiliar with the service. He said, however, those receiving the payments must be legal recipients.

Lassiter said that as an American citizen he could legally retire, move to Mexico, and continue to receive Social Security benefits. He said Mexican citizens who were legally in the United States and had a work-authorized Social Security number could also receive the benefits.