More evidence. The case is still on the docket under the First Circuit Court of Appeals – ruling in favor of Rivera-Fuentes solves.
Berríos Polanco 3-2-23 {“On American Citizenship Day, Puerto Ricans Still Denied Federal Disability Benefits,” Carlos Edill Berríos Polanco (Caribbean correspondent and journalist at Latino Rebels). Latino Rebels. Published March 2, 2023, Accessed July 5, 2023. www.latinorebels.com/2023/03/02/puertoricocitizenshipdayssi/.}–CPSW–TW
SAN JUAN — In Puerto Rico, March 2 marks the anniversary of when, in 1917, the U.S. Congress granted U.S. citizenship to anyone born in the islands. But for some Puerto Ricans, American Citizenship Day is a grim reminder of the unequal citizenship rights that deny them access to federal disability benefits because they are residents of Puerto Rico.
Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, is a monthly payment system meant for low-income U.S. citizens or nationals who are disabled or above the age of 65. It is available to people living in the 50 states and Washington, D.C., but not to people living in U.S. territories like Puerto Rico and American Samoa.
“The program was created for the people, not the land they live on,” Abraham Rivera Berríos, the first person to sue the U.S. government from Puerto Rico for being denied access to SSI in 2019, told Latino Rebels.
Abraham, 72, filed the lawsuit on behalf of his son Emanuel Rivera Fuentes, 36, who has been confined to his bed for years due to cerebral palsy. Since then, Abraham been joined by other Puerto Rican plaintives seeking SSI benefits from the federal government.
Rivera Berríos’s family currently lives off of his and his wife Gladys’ social security benefits. Gladys, 67, suffers from kidney failure and has a tracheotomy which prevents her from working. He calls her “milagrito” —little miracle— because she has survived so long. His daughter, who also would have qualified for SSI, died two years ago.
“There’s barely any help for low-income families, we have to do everything ourselves,” explained Abraham, who functions as the family’s sole caretaker.
For him, SSI payments would mean relief from having to worry about whether he has to pay for housing, food, electricity, and water or his family’s medications and treatments, which add up to hundreds of dollars per month. It’s a choice many people in his position, some of them who accompany him in the lawsuit, have had to make.
His case is currently before the First Circuit Court of Appeals.