Who needs U.S. citizenship, or for that matter, legal authorization to live in the U.S. when you've got Joe Biden's open borders?

That looks like the story with illegals receiving Social Security benefits, a lifetime benefit that until recently had been perceived as nominally reserved for U.S. citizens, not illegal border crossers, and which Democrats are now trying to debunk.

At the debate, NewsNation reported that Trump said:

“Social Security … he’s destroying it because millions of people are pouring into our country and they’re putting them onto Social Security,” Trump said. “They’re putting ‘em onto Medicare and Medicaid. Putting them into hospitals. They’re taking the place of our citizens.”

... and ...

“These millions and millions of people coming in, they’re trying to put them on Social Security. He will wipe out Social Security. He will wipe out Medicare.”

Which sounds true and is. Based on what's known from the Social Security office, via Newsweek's fact-check:

On its website, the Social Security Administration wrote: "Lawfully present noncitizens of the United States who meet all eligibility requirements can qualify for Social Security benefits. This rule also applies to noncitizens authorized to work in the United States who got a Social Security number after December 2003."

The problem, of course, is in the details. Illegals can't just tap into regular Social Security retirement benefits as paying Americans do.

However, they can get SSI pretty easily for lifetime benefits based on being unemployable, having no English skills, having no marketable skills, having no education, and not being retired.

Immigrants living in the country illegally are not eligible for Social Security retirement benefits, but those who entered the U.S. illegally before receiving temporary permission to stay may be eligible for Supplemental Security Income benefits if they meet certain criteria. SSI benefits are distributed to people who have little or no income or resources, a disability, blindness, or attained the age of 65 or older.

The money-quote comes when the definition of legally present is described:

Immigrants may be eligible for SSI if they meet the following criteria:

• Lawfully admitted for permanent residence.
• Granted conditional entry.
• Paroled into the United States.
• Admitted as a refugee.
• Granted asylum.
• An alien whose removal is being withheld.
• A Cuban or Haitian entrant.
• Admitted as an Amerasian immigrant.
• Admitted as an Afghan or Iraqi special immigrant.
• Admitted as an Afghan humanitarian parolee.
• Admitted as an Afghan non-special immigrant parolee.
• Admitted as a Ukrainian humanitarian parolee.

Conditional entry, as well as parole status are what they give to catch-and-release foreign nationals who are "processed" by the Border Patrol after breaking and entering the U.S. illegally. The only foreigners who don't get this status are "gotaways" who escape Border Patrol detection, and are typically criminals and terrorists.

Biden's catch-and-release game is all about getting let out on the "honor system" that they'll show up to their asylum and deportation hearings, and then instantly qualifying for lifetime income benefits from SSI on the spot.

Some are noticing:

Some of these migrants don't even need to check in with the Border Patrol for processing, all they need to be is Haitian or Cuban. The Afghan rabble, mostly military-aged young men, who pushed their way onto Biden's U.S. military evacuation jets, trampling women, children, and old people with no vetting, all get lifetime SSI benefits if they ask, just by being Afghan.

Anyone with any kind of conditional entry into the U.S., or parole status, or even a deportation on hold based on endless appeals, gets the free taxpayer money from SSI, all because they are here "legally."

Some are noticing, even in Democrat quarters:

Democrats Are Claiming Donald Trump Is Lying About Illegal Migrants Drawing Social Security Benefits

Here’s a Town Hall held in Chicago by US Rep Jonathan Jackson confirming illegals are being put on Social Security

“They come into this country and get a stipend, link, a free… pic.twitter.com/aTxPHvqEX5

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) July 8, 2024

So it's not just Trump.

Democrats in fact are now trying to push back on President Trump's statement at the June 27 presidential debate where he criticized federal policy of placing illegal immigrants on Social Security because such costs could bankrupt the already problematic trust fund before Americans who paid in will be able to claim any benefits.

You can see it in the sudden rash of fact-checks coming out in the last two days about it, meaning, the internal polling isn't going well for them.

But the facts are there, even if fact-checkers are trying debunk it with their interpretations of facts -- come to the U.S. illegally, present yourself to the Border Patrol, and not only will you get to stay in the U.S., your income is free for life.

Sound sustainable? Only to Democrats. The SSI program is wide open to any illegal border crosser to presents himself to the Border Patrol. What a deal for them. What a disaster for us.

Image: Screen shot from NBC News video, via YouTube