Federal Supreme Court will see case of Supplemental Social Security for Puerto Rico

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The issue of the political relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States will again be before the consideration of the Supreme Court federal court when the highest court hears a claim about the applicability of the benefit of the Supplementary Social Security (SSI, For the acronym in English) for the residents of the island.

This morning, the federal Supreme Court upheld a certificate appeal in the case of United States versus Vaello-Madero which debates the benefit to Puerto Ricans on the Island.

The administration of the former president of the United States Donald Trump had raised the lawsuit to the Supreme Court, after the Boston Appeals Circuit and the Federal District Court determine that the benefit applied to Puerto Ricans on the Island. It is estimated that if SSI were implemented in Puerto Rico, the impact would be about $ 2 billion. The government of the current president, Joe Biden, Did not give up the case.

Immediately the reactions of the politicians of the courtyard have begun to register on social media:

The lawsuit was initially filed by the U.S. government in a recovery action against José Luis Vaello Madero.

He lived in New York from 1985 to 2013, where he received SSI disability benefit. The man then moved to Puerto Rico in 2013, but continued to receive the Social Security deposit into his New York bank account until 2016. The U.S. government initiated a recovery action. of money against before the Federal District Court, but then asked for the dismissal of the same.

The U.S. government asked for the case to be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, alleging that there are still administrative lawsuits that Vaello-Madero may exhaust, but the judge Gustavo Gelpí denied this dismissal petition and the Boston Court of Appeals upheld the determination later.

Prior to the determination of the First Circuit, the local government presented itself as a friend of the court. At that time, the governor Wanda Vázquez Garced, Weeks after she was promoted to executive office, she expressed that the intention to remove the right to Puerto Ricans was discriminatory.

The Circuit of Appeals concluded that “the exclusion of Puerto Rican residents (from the right to Supplemental Social Security) is not rationally related to a government interest.” The case in Boston was attended to by the judges Juan Torruella, Jeffrey Howard i Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson.

Then the Trump administration turned to the Supreme.

The Secretary-General of the Department of Justice of Puerto Rico, Domingo Emanuelli, He stated in a press conference that he is the Attorney General of the government, Fernando Figueroa Santiago, Who is responsible for representing the interests of the State before the Supreme Court.

“Obviously the Puerto Rican government is interested in maintaining the decision of the First Circuit of Boston, but it will depend on what the Supreme Court decides,” Emanuelli said.

“Whoever intervenes is the Attorney General of Justice, his office is here, we work together, but he is an official appointed by the governor and I am an official appointed by the governor. I cannot speak for what he may think. He has complete autonomy, “the head of Justice clarified.

During his campaign, President Biden insisted that his administration would defend the granting of SSI to Puerto Rican residents, an element that has been stressed by figures such as the governor. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia and the President of the House of Representatives, Rafael “Tatito” Hernandez.

The Biden administration, installed since Jan. 20, however, did not take action to withdraw the case filed in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Here you can review the appeal of the United States Government to the Supreme Court which will now be seen on its merits:

Vaello Madero Pet by Metro Puerto Rico

The U.S. government raised an argument for violation of the clause that guarantees the same protection of laws. It was argued that “Congress has a legitimate interest in avoiding a unilateral fiscal relationship under which Puerto Rico shares the financial benefits, but not the financial burden of the state, and declining to include Puerto Rico in the SSI program is a rational way to advance this interest “.

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