Letter to the Hon. William Barr, Attorney General of the U.S. - Rep. Murphy and other Members Send Letter to Department of Justice Regarding SSI in Puerto Rico

Letter

Dear Attorney General Barr:
On April 10, 2020, the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the district court's
judgment in United States v. Vaello-Madero,
1 holding that the exclusion of the Americans
living in Puerto Rico from the disability benefits under the Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) provisions of Title XIV of the Social Security Act2 contravenes the equal protection
guarantees of the Fifth Amendment.3
The SSI is a national program established as a substitute to the federal subsidies previously
granted to the States to provide financial aid to needy individuals. In the years since it was
established, the SSI program has changed from one that mainly supplemented Social
Security income for elderly adults to a broader anti-poverty program that aids the disabled
of all ages, becoming increasingly important for children and adults with disabilities.
SSI benefits are about three-fourths of the poverty level for a single person. Thus, while
SSI alone is not enough to lift people out of poverty, it reduces the number of people in
extreme poverty and greatly lessens the burden on family members. In 2013, SSI payments
lowered from 63% to 42% the number of recipients living under the poverty level. The
average beneficiary receives $553 per month and the average beneficiary under 18 receives
approximately $662 a month. By statute, SSI is available to American citizens who live in a State, the District of
Columbia, and in the territory of the Northern Mariana Islands. Those who live in
U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico and American Samoa are excluded from the
program. Instead of SSI, these Americans receive supplemental assistance through the Aid
to the Aged, Blind, and Disabled Program (AABD) program, a capped grant from the U.S.
Department of Health & Human Services which applied to the States prior to the
establishment of SSI. Puerto Rico has to match 25% of the funds it receives from the
AABD, a requirement that does not apply to SSI.
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, if Puerto Rico had been a State
in Fiscal Year 2011, the number of SSI beneficiaries in Puerto Rico would have been
almost ten times as those who received AABD-- from 37,500 to 354,000-- and the
average payment would have been $422 per month instead of $74 per month. The
implementation of SSI in Puerto Rico would have represented 54 times as much money for
individuals who have no ability to support themselves
Of all the disparities that Americans living in the territories face, none is as shocking to the
conscience as the disparity in the assistance available to the most vulnerable citizens,
people who under no circumstance can support themselves. An American living under the
poverty line in the States, the District of Columbia, or the Northern Mariana Islands is no
more needy, vulnerable, or deserving of assistance than an American living under the
poverty line in the territories.
We applaud your decision not to seek reconsideration of the First Circuit's opinion, and
urge you allow this judgment to become final by not seeking review before the Supreme
Court of the United States. The district court's opinion, as affirmed by the court of appeals,
grants justice to these vulnerable Americans who are denied aid for the sole reason that
they live in a territory.