Jenniffer González says she will use “all available mechanisms” to achieve additional social security

Washington resident commissioner Jenniffer González said today, Monday, that she will use all available mechanisms – including court proceedings – to ensure equality for Puerto Ricans living on the island who are eligible for Supplemental Security. Income Program (SSI, for the acronym in English).

The federal government bolstered its defense, claiming it can deny those benefits in areas – such as Puerto Rico – that did not “voluntarily” enter the United States through “negotiations.” “The Department of Justice deals with island affairs to uphold the doctrine of discrimination against Puerto Ricans”, said the commissioner.

“I will use all available mechanisms to ensure equality, including the statehood project and the legal process”added González, a friend of the court in the discrimination case brought by José Luis Vaello for exclusion from the program after moving to the island from New York City.

González insisted that he trusts members of the United States Supreme Court, where this case is, to judge discrimination “in the same way that segregation in schools was avoided in the 1960s.” “Each area defends itself. I am interested that Puerto Rico, the 3.2 million US citizens who are here who are not eligible to receive their $ 460 per month; that people who are 65 or older, even if they live below the poverty line, can receive it, ”he said.

He added that this is one of the many struggles that only a state guarantees, but that while continuing to fight for that ideal, it cannot discriminate. “No matter where you live in the country, if you are a US citizen, you should be entitled to these benefits and that service because we pay Social Security. This is the inequality that leads me to fight for full equality, ”he said.

That disparity is also evident, he said, in the Medicaid program, where Puerto Rico participates in 11 of the 17 programs they have, and also under the “Child Tax Credit” that locally excludes families with one or two children.