By El Nuevo Día - Washington D. C. - Four influential U.S. labor unions with affiliates in Puerto Rico today denounced before the U.S. Supreme Court the federal government's efforts to block access to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for residents of the island. U.S. Supreme Court the federal government's efforts to block the island's residents' access to Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
In a "friend of the court" appeal in the Vaello Madero case, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Government Employees (AFCSME), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the United Auto, Aerospace and Agricultural Workers Union (UAW) challenged the U.S. government's arguments that SSI should not apply on the island so as not to disrupt Puerto Rico's economy or because the island does not pay enough federal taxes.
The unions, which together comprise 5.5 million workers, also rejected the claim that providing access to SSI violates the island's fiscal autonomy.
The U.S. government, under Donald Trump y Joe Bidenthe U.S. Supreme Court, has asserted before the U.S. Supreme Court that it is up to the U.S. government to decide Puerto Rico's Congress to decide Puerto Rico's access to SSI and that granting it through the courts infringes on the fiscal autonomy of the Puerto Rican government.
Indicating that deference should be given to Congress when establishing public policy on the territories, the Biden administration affirmed that the decision of the federal legislature is that Puerto Rico, instead of SSI, should have access to the Aid to the Aged, Blind and Disabled (AABD) program, which the island's government can expand.
"Puerto Rico is a de facto colony, despite U.S. claims of 'mutual respect,' and any fiscal autonomy the island once maintained was stripped away by the enactment of the Promesa law that created an unelected, presidentially appointed Oversight Board (known as "the Board") with authority to dictate Puerto Rico's fiscal public policy," the unions stated.
The appeal argues that alleging that SSI would disrupt Puerto Rico's economy has no rational basis whatsoever and should not serve as an excuse to discriminate against the poor and disabled.
"The United States has always disrupted, and continues to this day to disrupt, the Puerto Rican economy on a massive scale, and nothing about ending discrimination over island residents' access to SSI is going to have any meaningful effect with respect to that metric," they added.
The SEIU, AFCSME, AFT and UWA also agreed that the U.S. government, by emphasizing that Puerto Rico residents do not normally pay income taxes, minimizes the fact that Puerto Ricans on the island contribute close to $4 billion annually to the Social Security y Medicare.
"Puerto Rico's $4 billion in annual payments is also more than the tax contribution of several states, including Vermont, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Alaska, as well as the Northern Mariana Islands," a territory that has access to SSI, the unions noted.
The U.S. Supreme Court case is based on the federal government's efforts to collect from Puerto Rican José Luis Vaello Madero some $28,000 that SSI paid him as a resident of Puerto Rico. Vaello Madero began receiving benefits as a New York resident.
The federal First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in April 2020 that it is unconstitutional - for violating equal protection of the laws - to deny Puerto Rico residents access to SSI. The U.S. government then appealed to the federal Supreme Court, which has begun receiving written arguments in preparation for an oral hearing and a future decision on the dispute.
Although he pledged to end Puerto Rico's exclusion from SSI, President Biden has argued that his Department of Justice uphold the challenge to the decision of the federal First Circuit Court of Appeals.
While the Attorney General's office was presenting its written arguments in the Vaello Madero case, President Biden asked Congress to grant Puerto Rico and the other territories access to SSI, a proposal that is not expected to move forward at this time.