Why is ssa not available in puerto rico

Click on the data tables below to expand the images. The appellate court decision starts the clock on the possibility for an appeal from the federal government through a petition for a writ of certiorari from the U.

Supreme Court. However, the U. Department of Justice has not publicly indicated whether it intends to do so. In sum, this decision is not yet finalized and leaves many open questions.

If the final ruling stands that US citizens or green card recipients residing in Puerto Rico are eligible to receive SSI, administrative changes will need to take place before any money is transferred to Island residents. In the video below, Rosanna Torres explains the SSI program and why it should be extended to cover eligible populations in Puerto Rico. The video is in Spanish. The Social Security Administration sued him the next year for compensation for the funds he had received. View the discussion thread.

Skip to main content. Tags Puerto Rico Joe Biden. A must-read political newsletter that breaks news and catches you up on what is happening. Most Popular - Easy to read, daily digest of the news from The Hill and around the world. The federal government insisted on taking the case to the Supreme Court , even though President Biden expressed compassion for Vaello-Madero and the people of Puerto Rico. Whether aged, blind, and disabled citizens who satisfy the need-based eligibility criteria for Supplemental Security Income SSI are deprived of equal protection under the Fifth Amendment when Congress excludes them from this uniform national program solely because they reside in Puerto Rico, a U.

They also pointed out that the idea of applying different standards to different groups of U. The brief points out that, by definition, SSI recipients living in states also do not pay income tax. The eligibility requirements are such that no SSI recipient earns enough money to be required to pay any income tax. The United States Department of Justice has one month to respond. Oral arguments have not yet been scheduled, but will take place in the future.