Can Undocumented Immigrants Get Disability

How Much Revenue Do Refugees Generate For The United States

Trump recently ordered Health and Human Services to conduct a study about refugee resources and costs. The completed HHS study found refugees generated $63 billion more in revenue than they cost the federal government. For a decade, refugees paid more in taxes than they collected in government benefits, according to the July 2017 report.

HHS data shows that refugees contributed an estimated $269.1 billion in revenues to all levels of government from 2005-2014.

Can Undocumented Workers Obtain California Workers Compensation Benefits

All injured workers are entitled to workers compensation benefits regardless of immigration status.1 An undocumented worker is an employee under California workers compensation laws.2 It does not matter if he or she is unlawfully employed due to immigration status.

Example: Vicente is hired by a factory. He has a social security number, social security card, and fills out and signs W-4 for tax withholding and I-9 for immigration status.

After working for several months, Vicente injures his back at work. He files a workers compensation claim. The employer learns that Vicentes social security number is not valid and argues that it does not have pay benefits because he is undocumented.

The employer cannot avoid paying workers compensation benefits, even if Vicente was untruthful in filing out his employment documents.

Although an undocumented worker is still entitled to workers compensation benefits, the right to some benefits may be limited. Once an employer becomes aware an employee is not legally able to work in the United States, he or she cannot be hired back. The inability to return to work can affect temporary disability benefits and supplemental job displacement benefits.3

Medical treatment and permanent disability are unrelated to an injured workers work status and are not affected by immigration status.

An undocumented worker can still settle his or her claim by Compromise and Release or Stipulation and Award.

Health Care For Undocumented Immigrants

Given their higher uninsured rates, many undocumented immigrants delay or go without needed care. Research shows that having insurance makes a difference in whether and when people access needed care.8 Those who are uninsured often delay or go without needed care, which can lead to worse health outcomes over the long-term that may ultimately be more complex and expensive to treat.9

Undocumented immigrants can obtain low-cost care through community health centers. However, care available through clinics is often limited to preventive and primary care, leaving them to face challenges in accessing specialty services.

Under federal law, hospitals are required to screen and stabilize every patient who seeks emergency care. Medicaid helps offset costs borne by hospitals in providing emergency care to undocumented immigrants by providing payments to hospitals for emergency care provided to individuals who are otherwise eligible for Medicaid but for their immigration status.

Immigrants spend less on health care, compared to their U.S. born counterparts.10 They also make larger out-of-pocket health care payments compared to nonimmigrants.11 Immigrants have lower spending, in part, because they use less care due to their low coverage rates and limited access to care. They also tend to be younger and healthier than nonimmigrants, although this difference decreases over time as immigrants spend longer in the United States.12

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Eligibility For Disability Benefits

The Social Security Disability Income program pays benefits to workers who become disabled, including legal immigrants. Even if you are not a U.S. citizen, you may qualify for these benefits based on your work history, military service, or other criteria. Paying into the Social Security system through payroll taxes typically means you will qualify, assuming you also meet the SSA’s definition of disability.

Questions On Application Forms

Federal agencies have worked to reduce the chilling effect of immigration statusrelated questions on benefit applications. In 2000, HHS and USDA issued a Tri-Agency Guidance document, recommending that states delete from benefit applications questions that are unnecessary and that may chill participation by immigrant families. The guidance confirms that only the immigration status of the applicant for benefits is relevant. It encourages states to allow family or household members who are not seeking benefits to be designated as nonapplicants early in the application process. Similarly, under Medicaid, TANF, and SNAP, only the applicant must provide a Social Security number. In 2011, the USDA issued a memo instructing states to apply these principles in their online application procedures

SSNs are not required for people seeking only emergency Medicaid.

In 2001, HHS said that states providing CHIP through separate programs are authorized, but not obligated, to require SSNs on their CHIP applications.

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Unaccompanied Children With Disabilities

Unaccompanied children with disabilities are a particularly vulnerable population. Traveling without a parent or guardian, they move through the asylum system under the care of federal agencies many are released to families for the duration of their immigration case, but some may spend months or even years in custody. In 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 144,83495 encounters with unaccompanied children at the border, but neither CBP nor the agency that takes custody of unaccompanied children, the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement , releases public data on the number of unaccompanied children who disclose they have, are perceived to have, or are determined to have disabilities.

Similar to adults, children are detained upon arrival at the border after encountering CBP. However, under the Flores settlement agreement96a core set of requirements for the detention, release, and treatment of children in immigration custodyand the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act ,97 children must be transferred from CBP detention to the custody of the ORR within 72 hours.

Once a child is released from CBP custody, the ORR is required to place children in the least restrictive setting in their best interests, which is usually reunification with their parents or other family members. Before that release, the ORR places children in a variety of different settings. Examples98 of levels of ORR placement include:

How To Apply For Paid Family Leave

You can apply for Paid Family Leave at the Employment Development Departments Website or you can order an application for Paid Family Leave, otherwise known as form DE 2501 F from the Employment Development Department. You will need to fill out your portion of the application and have your loved ones medical provider fill out their portion. Both you and your medical provider will need to sign the application under penalty of perjury. When you have a completed application make a copy of it and mail the original to the Disability Insurance Office nearest to your home.

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Can Illegal Immigrants Get Social Security Or Access To Federal Health Programs

Though many pay into the system, illegal immigrants are not eligible for Social Security retirement or disability payments. Despite undocumented immigrants contributing about $12 billion per year to the Social Security trust fund, most cannot access this money.

According to EconoFact.org, illegal immigrants also cannot access most federal health programs. These programs include non-emergency Medicaid, the Childrens Health Insurance Program , and Medicare. In addition, illegal immigrants arent eligible for insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act and prohibited from ACA-based insurance exchanges.

Qualifying With Earnings From Another Country

Legal immigrants who have not earned enough work credits in the U.S. might still qualify for benefits if theyve earned enough work credits from one of the more than 25 countries with which the U.S. has what is known as a “totalization agreement.”

Those countries are:

The details of these agreements vary by country and are too complex to cover here, but you can find them on the Social Security Administrations Status of Totalization Agreements page.

If you lack enough work credits to qualify for Social Security in the U.S. but have credits from one of the countries listed above, you can combine credits from both countries and receive prorated Social Security benefits. That can be helpful if you immigrated to the U.S. later in life and are unlikely to put in 10 years of work in the U.S. before you are ready to retire.

However, the agreements allow SSA to combine the U.S. and foreign country credits only if the worker has obtained at least six credits of U.S. coverage, notes Z. M. Ishmurzina, a CPA and partner with Artio Partners, a Chicago tax firm specializing in services for U.S. ex-pats and foreign nationals.

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Barriers To Accessing Asylum

The ability to safely escape violent situations to reach U.S. territory is key to accessing asylum. This presents challenges for adults and children with disabilities who are not physically mobile and may be dependent on caretakers.

Humanitarian crises

Many disabled people cannot access critical assistance available during humanitarian evacuations and are left behind. For example, a recent Disability Rights International report33 examined the conditions of two Ukrainian childrens orphanages after the Russian invasion and found that many disabled children with the greatest support needs were abandoned by major relief agencies. These children were left in increasingly overcrowded, understaffed, and unsafe facilities that led to the deterioration of their physical and mental health,34 while less disabled and nondisabled children from peer institutions were safely evacuated to neighboring countries.

Transit

Disabled people who can escape violent situations in their countries of origin and seek asylum face hurdles beyond those facing other refugees in accessing protection.

Moreover, without safe migration pathways, many asylum-seekers endure perilous journeys to reach the United States and face abuse, which can cause them to become disabled. Importantly, disability is a protected status that can be acquired at any time during a persons life.

Can A Permanent Resident Get Disability

A permanent resident in the United Statesthat is, someone who holds a “green card”is eligible for Social Security benefits if they’ve paid Social Security taxes for the required number of years. In some circumstances, even the time you spent working outside the United States can help you meet the non-medical requirements for SSDI.

Some countries have agreements with the Social Security Administration , called totalization agreements. Under these agreements, if you’ve worked and paid into another country’s Social Security system , you can add that time to the time worked in the United States to help you meet the non-medical qualifications for SSDI.

The following countries have totalization agreements with Social Security under 42 U.S.C. § 433:

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How Can Resident Aliens Prove They’re Lawfully In The United States

If you’re a resident alien rather than a permanent resident, you’ll have to show Social Security that you’re lawfully in the United States under one of the following conditions:

• admission as a refugee or conditional entrance as a refugee
• asylum status or pending application for political asylum
• temporarily visiting on a nonimmigrant visa
• member of a class of aliens permitted to remain in the United States for humanitarian or other public policy reasons
• granted parole into the U.S.
• deportation withheld or pending application for withholding of deportation, or
• you’ve been battered or subjected to cruelty by a family member, or have been a victim of human trafficking, while in the United States.

Undocumented immigrants who aren’t in the U.S. lawfully aren’t eligible for Social Security disability benefits.

The Immigration System Is Rooted In A History Of Ableism And Eugenics

Disabled noncitizens have faced targeted discrimination since this nations founding. Eugenics, racism, and ableism have long played a pivotal role in informing immigration policies.8 Eugenics is the theory that humans can be improved through selective breeding and euthanasia.9 It has influenced leaders across the world, including in the United States, and wasand still isthe basis for many racist, ableist, and xenophobic attitudes and policies.10

Eugenics has influenced leaders across the world, including in the United States, and wasand still isthe basis for many racist, ableist, and xenophobic attitudes and policies.

Although this more explicitly exclusionary legislation from the early 1900s has been amended, discriminatory practices continue to negatively affect disabled immigrants. For example, although the scope and definition of public charge has evolved since the 1970s,14 noncitizens can still be considered public charges.15 This means that the likelihood that an individual will become primarily reliant on public cash benefits or will require funding for long-term institutionalization,16 which is disproportionately true for many disabled people, is factored into determinations of inadmissibility and deportability.17

Lack of data on disability and migration status

Who is an asylum-seeker?

Asylum can be granted to individuals who meet the statutory definition of refugee but who are already in the United States or seeking admission at a border.

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Can Illegal Immigrants Receive Supplemental Security Income

The Department of Homeland Security grants certain noncitizens in certain immigration categories the right to collect SSI. To qualify, that person must be blind or disabled and lawfully residing in the United States on August 22, 1996. Anyone lawfully admitted for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act with 40 U.S. work credits may also receive SSI.

Other noncitizens who may be eligible for SSI payments include:

• Active duty members of the U.S. armed forces
• Noncitizen members of federally recognized Indian tribes
• Certain noncitizens admitted as Amerasian immigrants
• Cuban/Haitian entrants admitted under the Refugee Education Assistance Act
• Certain victims of severe human trafficking
• Certain Iraqi or Afghan special immigrants who are admitted as lawful permanent residents

Some noncitizens can receive SSI for no more than seven years, depending on their status. However, the federal government never grants illegal immigrants monthly SSI benefits.

Exceptions To The Restrictions

The law includes important exceptions for certain types of services. Regardless of their immigration status, not-qualified immigrants are eligible for emergency Medicaid if they are otherwise eligible for their states Medicaid program. The law does not restrict access to public health programs that provide immunizations and/or treatment of communicable disease symptoms . School breakfast and lunch programs remain open to all children regardless of immigration status, and almost every state has opted to provide access to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children .

Short-term noncash emergency disaster assistance remains available without regard to immigration status. Also exempted from the restrictions are other in-kind services necessary to protect life or safety, as long as no individual or household income qualification is required. In 2001, the U.S. attorney general published a final order specifying the types of benefits that meet these criteria. The attorney generals list includes child and adult protective services programs addressing weather emergencies and homelessness shelters, soup kitchens, and meals-on-wheels medical, public health, and mental health services necessary to protect life or safety disability or substance abuse services necessary to protect life or safety and programs to protect the life or safety of workers, children and youths, or community residents.

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Eligibility For Survivors Benefits

If you have a deceased spouse who qualified for Social Security benefits, you may be eligible for Social Security survivor benefits. Typically, you need to be at least 60 years old, and your deceased spouse must have accumulated 40 work credits. The rules are more lenient if minor children are also survivors, or if you or your children are disabled. Surviving divorced spouses may also qualify.

The benefit amount depends on your age and your spouses work history. Your survivor benefits may be reduced if youre working or if you remarry. You dont have to qualify for Social Security benefits on your own to be eligible for survivor benefits. The basic rules that apply to U.S. citizens for survivor benefits are generally the same for legal immigrants.

Social Security Disability Income And Medicare

Some immigrants worked and paid into the social security system prior to the onset of their disability. Workers with sufficient work quarters are eligible for Social Security Disability Income or SSDI. Twenty-four months after SSDI benefits begin the immigrant will be eligible for Medicare health insurance.

Immigrants can qualify for SSDI if they have the required work quarters. For benefits based upon work quarters earned after December 31, 2003, the social security number must be valid for work purposes. The SSDI program does not use the terms Qualified Immigrants and Not Qualified Immigrants. Instead the program requires that the immigrant be lawfully present in the U.S. Lawfully present means the immigrant has a valid social security number, has been inspected by DHS and has not violated the terms of admission to the U.S.

An excellent resource for information affecting immigrants is the National Immigration Law Center. Before applying for SSI and Medicaid, immigrants should confirm with an immigration attorney whether these benefits will harm their immigration status. They should also consult with a special needs attorney to confirm which government benefit programs are available to provide cash benefits or medical coverage to an immigrant with disabilities.

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Calculating The Amount Of The Unemployment Insurance Benefit

The amount of weekly UI benefits can range from $40.00/week to $450.00/week. The amount of an UI claimants weekly benefits is determined by taking the quarter in the claimants base period with the highest earnings and applying the following chart. A quarter for these purposes is one of the four 3-month quarters in the base period. A base period can be found using the graph below:

Then, EDD takes the earnings from the highest quarter in your base period and divides that number by 26. EDD then takes the number that results and rounds it up to the next whole dollar amount. That number is the claimants weekly benefit amount unless the claimant is either a minimum or maximum earner. Unemployment has a minimum benefit of $40/week and a maximum benefit of $450/week. So if the number that results after a claimants earnings from their highest-earnings quarter in their base period is divided by 26 is less than 40, the UI benefits that that person will receive will be $40.00/week. On the other hand if after dividing the earnings from the highest-earnings in a base period by 26, that number is greater than 450, that person will still only receive $450.00/week.More detailed information is available here.