Two Sisters in Kentucky Fight for Social Security Numbers
For more than two decades, a pair of sisters in rural Kentucky have lived without Social Security numbers. Now Raechel and Stephanie Schultz want steady, legitimate work, yet the federal government has refused to issue numbers to the women, saying they need more proof the pair were born in the U.S.Raechel was born at a home in Madison County, Ky., near where the family lives now; Stephanie was delivered in the back of a Dodge van in southern Alabama. The births were recorded in a family Bible but were otherwise undocumented.
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All this hassell to keep native born Americans from getting a Social Security Card and PAYING INTO the system! But they are giving away our Social Security benefits to illegals and anyone else who has not paid into the system. Can't quite figure this out, unless it's a ploy to make SS go bankrupt faster and get the govt. out of the SS business. But think of how many hundreds of govt. employees that would put on unemployment!
Undocumented aliens in the United States cannot drawn benefits an cannot be issued SSNs. It use to be you could just say you were born in the United States and Social Security took your word for it, if you were under age 18. Congress passed tougher laws to prove you were a citizen or lawfully admitted at any age. All the rules to keep illegal aliens for getting benefits, even if they paid into the system, now are working against a couple of people who are probably, but not proven to be, United States citizens.
The rules are particularly strick if you apply after age 18, as that is where the majority of fraud has been found.
That is what all the anti-illegals wanted and that is what they got. Now it is working against these women.
There are ways establish that they were born in the United States. I know the Social Security Administration is prohibited from saying what has been submitted to date and what the status is due to the privacy laws. It is grounds for firing if a government employee reveals any details.
But as an amateur genealogist and family historian, I would think that a case could be presented that would be acceptable. But it has to have some real evidence.
I have retired from a lengthy career with Social Security administration and have successfully processed many similar cases. Combinations of records from family bibles, school records, insurance policies, signed statements which produce "delayed" birth certificates are all acceptable proofs of citizenship. Perhaps they need to appeal their case and/or try going to a social security office in a more urban area.
@ Joyce and Zirona, there will be an answer and the main ingriedient is their past DNA study proving they are the children of the parents. If suspected criminals can be proved not guilty with DNA, these young women should be able to get a SS card!
Wait until the tightening immigration laws reach some of the conservatives...there is always a case in the closet!
Welcome to the post-9/11 world of the Patriot Act enforced by Homeland Security. Pre-9/11, things like insurance forms, pension stubs and family bibles were legally allowed to be used as identifiers. They are not valid since the Patriot Act passed. I assume that zirona's experience with success is from a decade or more ago.
Those who trade their rights for security deserve neither.