SSI payments to lawfully resident aliens, 1978-79

Under the supplemental security income program, persons who are not citizens of the United States but are otherwise eligible may, under current law, receive SSI payments if they have been lawfully admitted to the country for permanent residence or are permanently residing here under color of law. The report examines data on noncitizens among a group of recent SSI awardees, including their country of birth, length of residence in the United States, and certain demographic characteristics. The group is also compared with citizens awarded payments in the same period in terms of age, sex, income, and amount of SSI payment. In the 8 months from September 1978 to May 1979 about 6 percent of the 273,000 awards went to noncitizens. Almost half of them had lived in the United States at least 5 years at the time of the first award. As a group they are older than the citizens and have less income, as their higher SSI payments indicate.