Pirate's Cove

Most Conservatives are disappointed in President Bush's illegal immigration stances, and this sure doesn't help (from the Washington Times)

An agreement the Bush administration reached with Mexico on Social Security benefits would allow illegal aliens granted amnesty in the future to claim credit for the time they worked illegally.

The deal was reached in 2004 but never released publicly because it hasn't been submitted to Congress. The TREA Senior Citizens League, a Social Security advocacy group, recently obtained the document through a Freedom of Information Act, and said it confirms the group's worst fears.

But Mark Lassiter, a spokesman for the Social Security Administration, said the agreement doesn't change U.S. law. The law states that those who do not have authorization to work will not get benefits under a totalization agreement. 

"To get Social Security benefits, you do have to be legally in the United States. This agreement does not address in any way immigration, immigration laws or override current law," he said, adding that a 2004 law, the Social Security Protection Act, prevents illegal aliens from getting benefits. 

But the seniors group said the 2004 law also states that if those aliens later get legal status — through an amnesty or some sort of legalization plan such as the one President Bush and the Senate tried to enact last year — they would be able to collect the benefits based on their time as illegal workers.

Had this little deal been know, I seriously doubt whether Bush would have been reelected in 2004. I suspect just enough conservatives would have stayed home to lose at least one of the States Bush won, giving the election to Monsieur Kerry.

It is not law yet, as it has not been submitted to the Congress. As the Washington Times article points out, Congress has 60 days to (hopefully) say "Nyet" or it becomes law.