By Metro.pr - At a time when the federal Supreme Court will have to decide whether to allow Puerto Ricans living on the island to receive Supplemental Security Income benefits, two Puerto Ricans joined the claim to demand that the federal government extend this assistance to all citizens living in Puerto Rico.
On March 1, the highest federal court granted a petition for certiorari to decide whether Congress discriminated against Puerto Ricans and whether it violated the Equal Protection of the Laws provision under the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution by not allowing island residents to receive these benefits. The lawsuit was initially filed by the U.S. government in a recovery action against Jose Luis Vaello Madero, who was required to repay $28,081 in SSI benefits. Vaello Madero allegedly received SSI benefits while living in New York, but upon his return to the island, the Social Security Administration (SSA) requested that he repay the money he received while residing in Puerto Rico.
Yesterday, through attorney Isabel Abislaiman, Puerto Ricans Arnold Jay Ruiz-Avilés and Emmanuel Rivera-Fuentes asked to join the lawsuit as 'friends of the court' and argued that SSI benefits should be extended to all eligible island residents.
Both are residents of the island and, under SSI criteria, would be eligible. However, by residing on the island, SSA determined that they could not receive benefits even though they are both persons with functional diversity and other conditions. In addition, they mentioned that the U.S. government has discriminated against them because of their residence on the island, despite their U.S. citizenship, and because they are disabled and blind.
"Every minute that passes constitutes an unnecessary delay for persons who are eligible and who have an urgent need for immediate participation in the SSI program operated by SSA. Even in minimal periods in which they have not received SSI benefits, these individuals are exposed to increased health risks, economic need, and constitutional injury," reads the legal challenge by both.
Ruiz-Avilés, who was born in 1981, began receiving Supplemental Security Income benefits between 1984 and 1985 while his family lived in New York City. Ruiz-Avilés, who is clinically blind, has always been under the care of his family. The young man also suffers from other conditions such as neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, renitis pigmentosa, mental retardation, among other conditions. "Similar to Vaello Madero, the Social Security Administration determined that Ruiz-Avilés was ineligible to receive SSI benefits after his family moved to Puerto Rico. Ruiz-Avilés has never been and never will be a taxpayer regardless of his residency," reads the legal brief.
While Rivera Fuentes - who has always resided on the island - suffers from conditions such as cerebral palsy, paralytic syndrome, hypothyroidism, hypothalamic dysfunction, among others. These conditions keep Rivera Fuentes bedridden. He has always been eligible to receive SSI, but his residence in PR has not allowed him to do so. He has always been under the care of his parents. In fact, one of them also faces functional diversity conditions. Emmanuel's sister was also born with several conditions that qualified her to receive SSI benefits. However, she died without receiving such assistance.
They also indicated that they are part of some 305,000 to 354,000 Puerto Rican citizens eligible to receive SSI and that they have been prohibited from receiving this assistance since its creation in 1972. According to the appeal, both attempted to apply for SSI while residing on the island and were denied this benefit. Faced with this, in 2020, both appealed to the local Federal Court to demand that they be allowed to receive these benefits.
"As defined by law, Ruiz-Avilés and Rivera Fuentes are among the neediest and poorest group of people in the nation. Their most immediate concern is being able to cover their medical expenses and other basic services yesterday and every day. In addition, these individuals are U.S. citizens who are unable to care for themselves, which also prevents them from leading independent and productive lives as defined by SSA for SSI. Based on these criteria for determining SSI eligibility, Ruiz-Avilés and Rivera Fuentes are unable to generate their own income and are therefore unable to pay contributions to the federal treasury," states the document submitted to the highest U.S. judicial forum.