This argument proves our internal link. Denying PR SSI reinforces the racial barrier to equal protection for a nonsensical reason.

Rationale #2: The Cost of Treating a Territory Like a State. The federal government rightly points out that judicial review of “distinctions that Con- gress draws in order to make allocations from a finite pool of resources must be deferential,” and that “protecting the fiscal integrity of Government pro- grams, and of the Government as a whole, is a legitimate concern of the State.”254 That said, a federal court must be able to identify a valid reason for the cost savings.255 And in its briefing in both Vaello-Madero and Peña- Martínez, the government did not identify a reason why Congress would treat some Americans who live in territories differently from other Ameri- cans who are eligible for the federal benefits on the basis of their poverty, disability, or age. This is an awkward rationale for programs with nationally defined benefit amounts, as it costs the same amount of money to award SSI benefits to an eligible citizen in Puerto Rico as it does to award those benefits to someone in Florida, Vermont, or the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).256 Singling out otherwise-eligible Americans because they reside in territories is the kind of arbitrary decision equal protection is supposed to protect Americans against.