Elderly Immigrants are Facing a Harsh Reality. Being an immigrant in the United States has become harder over the past few decades. It’s harder to get employment, immigration laws are stricter, and timelines to legalize are longer every year. These changes are hard for all immigrants but are more difficult for the elderly. One of the main reasons for this is that they are not able to get protections from the U.S. Social Safety net although many have paid into the system for a lifetime.
With rents and inflation going through the roof, the elderly are facing a harsh reality. Many elderly persons are on fixed incomes, making it difficult for them to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of living. Many need to work part-time jobs to bridge the gap between what they get from their pensions and social security checks. This is hard but for the not documented who have aged in the United States, things are much worse.
Most elderly undocumented immigrants do not have access to social security, food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, or pensions. This means getting older comes with a large price tag that they cannot afford, they have to make tough choices when it comes to buying medication, buying food, and obtaining housing. Many still need to work full-time and cannot afford the expensive medication they require to live.
This is an issue that gets very little exposure and most talks around legalization focus on young or working-aged people that are currently in the workforce but for people who have been working and paying taxes for a lifetime without the right to be paid back through social security or welfare, retirement is not a possibility. This causes an increased financial burden on their children, and it is likely to worsen as the cost-of-living rises in the United States.
Abraham Cepeda
Attorney at Law
