Jun 8, 2021
President Joe Biden affirmed that the U.S. Supreme Court has the authority to deny Puerto Rico residents the Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a federal program that provides benefits to low-income citizens who are blind, disabled, or elderly.
The president affirmed that he is personally against excluding Puerto Rico from accessing this program, but stood by the Supreme Court’s power, although he urged legislators in Congress to amend the law and thus allow the island’s residents the same benefits as American citizens in the mainland.
“This provision is inconsistent with my Administration’s policies and values. However, the Department of Justice has a longstanding practice of defending the constitutionality of federal statutes, regardless of policy preferences. This practice is critical to the Department’s mission of preserving the rule of law. Consistent with this important practice, the Department is defending the constitutionality of the Social Security Act provision in this case,” he said in a missive published on the White House’s portal.
“As I have stated, I believe that Puerto Rico residents should be able to receive SSI benefits, just like their fellow Americans in all 50 states and Washington D.C. I call on Congress to amend the Social Security Act to extend these benefits to residents of Puerto Rico,” he added. “As I have stated, I believe that Puerto Rico residents should be able to receive SSI benefits, just like their fellow Americans in all 50 states and Washington D.C. I call on Congress to amend the Social Security Act to extend these benefits to residents of Puerto Rico.”
In “U.S. v. Vaello-Madero,” the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruled on April 2020 that it was unconstitutional for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to deny the SSI to otherwise qualified individuals based on their residence in Puerto Rico.
Since then, Puerto Rican officials like Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González and some U.S. congresspersons. Reacting to Biden’s statement, González reiterated that “the residents of Puerto Rico deserve to be treated equally as their fellow American citizens residing stateside. The disparities under SSI only reflect one of the many benefits that are denied to Puerto Ricans due to our colonial status.”
According to the SSA, citizens may receive $794 per individual and $1,191 per couple under the SSI program. Attorney Herrmann Ferre estimated that roughly 700,000 Puerto Rico residents could qualify for this benefit.