“Happy 90th anniversary, Social Security!” United States Rep. Judy Chu exclaimed on Monday to a group of cheering senior citizens.
As part of a national “Save Social Security Day of Action,” organized by House Democrats to demand that President Donald Trump stop gutting the Social Security Administration (SSA), Chu held a press conference at the Joslyn Senior Center in Alhambra.
“For 90 years, American seniors have relied on the promise that after a lifetime of hard work, you can retire with dignity,” Chu said. “Social Security keeps millions of seniors out of poverty, ensuring that they can afford basic needs like housing, groceries and healthcare.”
Almost 70 million people collected Social Security benefits in July. With most low-income older U.S. citizens lacking pension income, according to the Census Bureau, Social Security is the largest source of income for most retired beneficiaries.
Research from the SSA indicated that it provided at least 50% of their income for every four in 10 retirees, and for one in seven, it provided at least 90% of their income.
However, Social Security is more than just a retirement program; it also provides life insurance and disability insurance protection.
While older adults make up about four in five beneficiaries, the other one-fifth of beneficiaries received Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or were youth who received benefits due to their parent or guardian passing away.
Throughout their lifetime, workers in the U.S. pay taxes into Social Security. The money is held in a general account used for those who are receiving benefits right now, rather than private individual accounts.
Young workers are paying the Social Security retirement benefits of the older generation currently receiving retirement benefits. But the financial future of those young people paying in may not be guaranteed.
The trust fund reserves used to pay beneficiaries are projected to run out by 2035, according to the agency’s annual trustees report. Social Security will still exist after 2035, according to the report, but without congressional action, future retirees will only receive a portion of their full benefits.
Chu pointed out that those benefits are further under attack by the Trump administration, which is “taking a wrecking ball” to the SSA by laying off 7,000 workers at the agency and pushing to close down offices across the country.
She claimed that Trump and his allies are also waging a “smear campaign” to undermine the program.
In March, tech billionaire Elon Musk called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time,” adding that the SSA was filled with fraudulent payments.
“Social Security fraud is virtually nonexistent, and payment accuracy is an incredible 99.8%,” said Chu. “But they repeat these lies because they want to undermine Americans’ confidence in Social Security so they can justify slashing benefits and ultimately reaching their goal of privatizing the program so that their billionaire buddies can profit.”
In fact, Chu pointed out, one way to save Social Security for generations to come is by requiring the ultra wealthy to pay into Social Security all year long, as 94% of the nation does.
“Democrats have introduced the Social Security 2100 Act, which would do just that,” said Chu.
Because Social Security’s payroll tax doesn’t apply to earned income above $168,600, the richest in the U.S. have already stopped paying into Social Security for the year.
“We only need four House Republicans to join us,” she added, “to make sure that Social Security can become as strong as it can be.”
The congresswoman acknowledged that Trump’s mass deportation policy could also have implications for Social Security benefits for future generations.
Contrary to those who falsely state that immigrants take away from our government fund, “Actually, they pay into it,” said Chu.
“[Undocumented immigrants] pay into Social Security, they pay sales taxes, but they get nothing back from that. … They’re paying more into [government programs] than what they get back,” she added.
According to a 2024 study from the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022 – $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes, $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes and $1.8 billion in unemployment insurance taxes. California alone made up $8.5 billion of that total amount.
“These are hard-working people,” said Chu. “They are integral to our economy, integral to our businesses, integral to our neighborhoods.”
Bull. He’s stopping illegal aliens from receiving benefits.