Testimony of Shannon Benton, Executive Director, The Senior Citizens League, before the House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law, June 18 2007
Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Testimony before Congress June 18 2007
Testimony of Shannon Benton
Executive Director
The Senior Citizens League
Before the
House Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees,
Border Security, and International Law
Comprehensive Immigration Reform:
Government Perspectives on Immigration Statistics Hearing
June 19, 2007
Introduction
Chairman Lofgren, Ranking Member King, and distinguished Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to present testimony today. My name is Shannon Benton, and I am the Executive Director for The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), a proud affiliate of The Retired Enlisted Association (TREA). TSCL is under the direction of an all volunteer board of trustees comprised of retired veterans. Our Chairman is Mr. Ralph McCutchen. TSCL has more than 1 million active senior citizen members and supporters concerned about the protection of their Social Security, Medicare, and veteran or military retiree benefits. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, TSCL is a non-profit, nonpartisan, educational organization, and our mission is to promote and assist members and supporters, to educate and alert senior citizens about their rights and freedoms as U.S. citizens, and to protect and defend the benefits senior citizens have earned and paid for.
Sign our Petition to Congress Protesting Illegal Alien Amnesty 'Guest Worker' Legislation and U.S. Social Security Totalization With Mexico
We were happy to learn of this hearing, because we feel that the pending immigration reform will have far reaching effects on many issues. Of these many issues, the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund particularly concerns us. Allow me to make clear, TSCL is in no way opposed to lawful immigration. We believe it is a vital part of the foundation of our country. However, there are current laws in place to maintain control of immigration numbers and to promote national security that are not being enforced. Some estimates, including those by the Pew Hispanic Center, have suggested there are nearly 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States from all over the world. Seemingly, the lack of law enforcement and the potential for a better life have led to staggering numbers of immigrants coming to the U.S. both legally and illegally.
TSCL is pleased that Congress and the President are realizing that this situation is not going to go away and should be addressed sooner rather than later. In fact, the Senate introduced and started debate on immigration reform earlier this year. While TSCL applauds Congress for attempting to address this issue, we fear that a little-known loophole not addressed in the Senate immigration bill, S. 1348, will result in significant damage to the already strained Social Security Trust Fund. In fact, as TSCL previously estimated, this loophole could cost more than $966 billion in Social Security benefits by the year 2040.
Read/Download the entire testimony (.pdf file)
Read/Download the chart "Cost of Illegal Work : Immigrants With NON-Work SSNs Family" (.pdf file)
Sign our Petition to Congress Protesting Illegal Alien Amnesty 'Guest Worker' Legislation and U.S. Social Security Totalization With Mexico
June 2007
