====== FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ======

America First Party
1630 A 30th Street #111
Boulder, Colorado 80301
http://www.AmericaFirstParty.org

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Wacky Agreement Would Allow Social Security for Illegals

Boulder, CO - A secret 2004 agreement, just released under a Freedom of Information Act request, could soon make Mexican illegal immigrants eligible for Social Security benefits. Similar agreements have been signed with many advanced industrialized nations with benefit systems similar to ours, but these protect the benefits of legal foreign workers. In the case of the proposed U.S.-Mexico Social Security Totalization Agreement, illegals who have used fraudulent or stolen Social Security numbers will be able to benefit from their criminal behavior.

The America First Party calls for the rejection of this policy on the grounds that it rewards and encourages crime, has the potential to create huge costs for the federal government which is already facing a debt crisis, and because it would provide an incentive for still more illegal immigration. Because of Mexico's poverty, incentives like these could cause the current flood of illegal migration to become a tidal wave.

It is said that Congress only has 60 days to act on this issue once the President signs it and sends it to Congress. If no action is taken, then the agreement will be automatically implemented. The America First Party rejects this mechanism of approval as unconstitutional. Under the Constitution, all treaties must be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate before they can take affect. We call on the Senate to do its Constitutional and fiduciary duty and reject the totalization treaty.

"Giving Social Security benefits to illegals will encourage more illegal immigration and identity theft, and will jeopardize the benefits and economic well-being of U.S. citizens. This is unacceptable to working Americans, and amounts to playing Russian Roulette with our nation's future," stated Jonathan Hill, America First Party Chairman.

John Schweingrouber, AFP Press Secretary adds, "The Republicans ignored this issue for far too long. Now the Democrats will either pass the bill with a rubber stamp when it is introduced, or they will leave it out of the public debate and let it slide through with the best wishes of the Bush Administration. Two-party collusion is alive and well in Washington, D.C."

Contacts:
Jonathan Hill, National Chairman, 1-866-SOS-USA1, ext. 4
John Schweingrouber, Press Secretary, 1-866-SOS-USA1, ext. 2

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