[asynchronous]

What caught me out was the random argument that undocumented (see: illegal) immigrants should receive social security benefits. By the very definition of how documentation works this would be impossible, so I’m assuming the author is advocating for extending citizenship en-masse.

[Micanthus]

Yet until 1996, any worker who payed into social security (which includes many undocumented immigrants) was entitled to its benefits. The source the author linked makes this clear.

> When the Social Security program began paying benefits in 1940, there were no restrictions on benefit payments to noncitizens.

> In 1996, Congress approved tighter restrictions on the payment of Social Security benefits to aliens residing in the United States. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA)23 prohibited the payment of Social Security benefits to aliens in the United States who are not lawfully present, unless nonpayment would be contrary to a totalization agreement or Section 202(t) of the Social Security Act (the alien nonpayment provision).24 This provision became effective for applications filed on or after September 1, 1996. Subsequently, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 199625 added Section 202(y) to the Social Security Act. Section 202(y) of the act, which became effective for applications filed on or after December 1, 1996, states, "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no monthly benefit under [Title II of the Social Security Act] shall be payable to any alien in the United States for any month during which such alien is not lawfully present in the United States as determined by the Attorney General."

https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20161117_RL32004_1ac9e9...

Also, many (maybe all?) documented non-citizen immigrants are eligible for social security if they meet the other criteria, so there's no reason to assume the author is arguing "for extending citizenship en-masse". Nor even that they are arguing for more visas being granted at all

[swiftcoder]

Keep in mind that "undocumented" is a term-of-art. They may in practice be extremely well documented, in every regard except for an active visa.

A significant portion of "illegal" immigration is folks who have overstayed a legitimate work visa (and hence obtained a social security number during the visa application process), and there's also the whole bucket of folks who applied for a social security card under the DACA (which protections have since been mostly rescinded).

[internet_points]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration#Terminolog... "undocumented" is a euphemism since "illegal immigrant" sounds like the person is illegal (vs having done an illegal action), but it has the unfortunate effect of leading to exactly this kind of confusion.

So-called "undocumented immigrants" can be quite well documented and even pay social security taxes: https://www.marketplace.org/2019/01/28/undocumented-immigran...

[bpt3]

It's not random when you consider the clear motives behind this visualization.