Letter to the Hon. Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States - Velázquez Leads Letter to Biden Administration Urging Dropping of Trump-Era Effort to Deny SSI Benefits to Puerto Rico

Letter

Dear President Biden:
On February 4, 2019, the District Court in Puerto Rico, issued a ruling on United States v.
Vaello-Madero, a legal dispute regarding the application of Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
to residents of Puerto Rico. For 28 years, Mr. Jose Luis Vaello-Madero was a New York resident
and received monthly SSI disability benefits. He moved to Puerto Rico in 2013 and for 3 years
continued receiving SSI payments to his bank account in New York. 1
In 2017, the Social
Security Administration initiated a collection process for benefits paid to Vaello-Madero after his
relocation to the U.S. territory, where residents do not qualify for the SSI.2
Vaello-Madero argued that the exclusion of Puerto Rico from the SSI benefits program violated
the Constitution's Fifth Amendment's equal protection guarantees. The U.S. asserted that the
denial of SSI disability payments to Puerto Rico does not violate the Fifth amendment. In his
ruling, the U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico granted Vaello-Madero's motion for summary
judgment, essentially agreeing with the plaintiff. The U.S. appealed the Court's decision to the
First Circuit. 3
On April 10, 2020, Judge Juan Torruella, Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson and Chief Judge Jeffrey
Howard from the First Circuit, affirmed the decision of Puerto Rico's District Court.4 The threejudge panel declined to overrule existing precedent that allows Congress to discriminate against
U.S. citizens who reside in Puerto Rico, pursuant to its plenary powers under the U.S.
Constitution. The Circuit found that the exclusion of Puerto Rico residents from receiving SSI benefits is unconstitutional under the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment's Due
Process Clause.
5
Unfortunately, on August 7, 2020, the Trump Administration appealed the case on behalf of the
United States to the U.S. Supreme Court, justifying the historically wrong and constitutionally
flawed exclusion of Puerto Rico residents from receiving SSI benefits.6 The challenge by the
previous administration comes after the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and
First Circuit both ruled that the exclusion of Puerto Ricans from these programs is
unconstitutional under the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment's Due Process
Clause. The petition to issue the writ of certiorari is currently pending before the Supreme Court.
For decades, the U.S. has arbitrarily discriminated against hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens
that live in Puerto Rico. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) predicted that during FY
2011, 305,000 to 354,000 eligible Puerto Rico residents would have received SSI. Moreover,
average monthly SNAP coverage would have ranged from 486,000 households to 1,140,000
households in Puerto Rico. Finally, the GAO estimated that almost half a million (493,984)
Medicare beneficiaries on the island would have been eligible for LIS benefits.7 More recently,
Puerto Rico's Center for the New Economy has estimated using 2018 ACS data that potentially
435,886 individuals could qualify for the SSI program in Puerto Rico with an estimated total
impact of $2.58 billion.8
I recognize the Administration's commitment to ensuring Puerto Rico receives parity in all
applicable federal programs. It is long overdue that Puerto Ricans who qualify for SSI benefits
can start receiving their benefits as soon as possible. The Supreme Court is slated to meet for
conference on February 19, 2021 where Vaello-Madero might be distributed.9 As such, I
urgently ask you to exercise discretion and have the Department of Justice to withdraw the
government's petition for writ of certiorari. Time is of the essence and we owe it to Puerto
Ricans on the island to be able to receive the same SSI benefits they would otherwise be
receiving on the mainland. I ask that you give this letter full and fair consideration consistent
with applicable law, rules, and regulations.

Sincerely,