In yet another alarming trend, the U.S. House of Representatives, September 28, passed a bill that would cut off Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits to seniors and disabled people who have outstanding arrest warrants for an alleged felony or for an alleged violation of a probation violation.
This move is unlikely to cause any sort of uproar from the general public because it’s doubtful most Americans believe people with outstanding warrants or those who have violated probation should receive Social Security benefits, but when you realize all the facts of what is involved here, more people might have more sympathy.
This move by Congress is unlikely to assist law enforcement to secure any arrests of these people because the Social Security Act already prohibits payments to people who flee law enforcement to avoid prosecution or imprisonment. Social Security already notifies law enforcement the whereabouts of every person with a warrant for an alleged felony or an alleged probation violation who shows up in the Social Security data base. The new bill would not change that procedure.
The difference in the new bill is that benefits would be cut off to people whose criminal cases are inactive and who law enforcement is not pursuing. Many cases can involve warrants issued to people who did not pay a fine or court fee and many of these people are not even aware that a warrant has been issued.
The question then is why did the House pass this bill? The only thing this bill would achieve is to cut off benefits, which at a maximum provides $735 to SSI recipients a month to low-income people who are already finding it difficult to survive. A very high percentage of people who would lose their benefits suffer from mental or intellectual disabilities.
